


Star Wars: The Last Kryze

by ZigguratRolsovitch



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Force Bond, Padawans, Reylo - Freeform, Sandstorm - Freeform, Slow Burn, Snoke is abusive, Stranded, Stranded Together, drama bombs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2018-07-10 21:09:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 69,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7006957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZigguratRolsovitch/pseuds/ZigguratRolsovitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AUish: Rey finally meets Luke Skywalker. What truths will she uncover about herself, her parents, Luke Skywalker and her strange connection to the monster in the mask Kylo Ren?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I would imagine this theory has been done about a dozen or more times, but I wanted to do my own take on it. Decided to change the title and pun off the eights title.

Prologue:

The background noise was the only thing that kept this lack of words from becoming uncomfortable as Rey held out the famed blade towards the iconic man before her. The blade that had both committed various atrocities and also did it's part to save the galaxy. It seemed surreal, neither of them saying a word as if this were some sort of dream that she was going to wake up from at any minute. She was left standing there with enough time to wonder if their last hope was going to turn around and deny her presence. If he would turn his back on the galaxy.

His expression seemed to say so many things all at once. A mixture of shock, a tinge of horror and... further more... a spark of recognition all at once... and then his lips parted as if he were about to speak, needed to speak, but the words seemed not to come and still she continued to wait desperately for something to grasp onto and reminder her this was reality and not just a dream... and finally like an answered prayer Luke Skywalker uttered one. Single. Word.

"Rey..." The hero's voice cracked just slightly from disuse as he spoke her name. It startled her back into reality. He took a step forward and then another and finally he grabbed the lightsaber. It brought her such relief that the weight of the galaxy would be out of her hands, but... he suddenly pushed it back towards her.

"...What are you doing? I've come to get you... to bring you back..." Rey began, utterly terrified by that feeling she suddenly had, because she knew from the look in his eyes even before he spoke the words. No. She didn't want that responsibility. "You have to stop The First Order... the Republic's capital is gone."

"I know. I sensed it the moment it happened, but The Force tells me that my duty now is as my master's before me. To train you." Luke's tone was so full of conviction.

"I can't... I can't do it. It's too much. It's too big. I can't possibly do what you did. I'm not as strong as you." It was terrifying to think that she had been chosen for something she wasn't sure she could do... something she wasn't sure she wanted to do.

"The Force has chosen you and will help you. You don't need to be afraid." Luke's hands lowered and gently held hers over the lightsaber as he met her eyes. "To see you again... has given me so much hope. I had thought that you had perished all those years ago."

"See me again? What are you talking about?" Confusion pilled on top of her anxiety and fear at this newfound responsibility. "You... knew me?"

It was Luke's turn for confusion to overtake his face. His eyes searched hers carefully, but when he realized she truly did not know him he dropped his hands to his sides.

"You were one of my students, Rey..." Luke's answer was not the one she expected... not exactly the one she wanted either.

"Your student? None of that... sounds familiar... are you sure... are you sure I'm who you think I am?"

"How could I possibly forget your face? Or that warrior hairstyle, hmm?" He almost smiled, but painful memories got in the way and the faint tilt of his lips faltered and fell downwards into a frown instead.

"If it's true... can you help me remember?" Rey questioned, tightening her hands around the lightsaber as if it was the only thing grounding her to this newfound reality.

"I can, but it will take time... and you may not like what you see."

"...I... was told... that my parents wouldn't come back for me, but that... there was someone that still could... it was you?"

Luke seemed to be taking time to calculate what she was telling him, thinking it through thoroughly.

"It is possible, but I have in mind a more likely candidate." Luke then took a step back and waved a hand for her to follow along with him. "Come. We have much to discuss. I think it would be better if we discussed it somewhere more comfortable."

For a moment she was stunned, still standing rooted in place and trying to... to put the pieces together and somehow work through this confusion until she managed to snap herself out of it and quickly hurried after him as he headed towards a rocky shelter and then past a cloth covered door and inside.

There outside she hesitated. It was her big chance to find out the truth of her past and her parents. Who she really was. She wanted to know. She did, but at the same time... she wasn't all that sure she wanted to know. She was afraid to know. She was afraid of finding out these things, because she feared they might be so terrible she would be unable to live with knowing them.

Either way it went she knew that her life was never going to be the same.

Taking a deep breath she stepped inside and was met with the old master's living quarter's. A small hut that was designed in a way that would be unnoticeable so long as nobody took the time to really look at it. Of course he knew how to play it smart. He had battled the Empire for a long time. One had to be clever to rebel against such evil powers.

"Please sit and make yourself comfortable... you're my guest." Luke stated and Rey halted all but for a moment, but Luke took notice of her discomfort. "Is something wrong?"

"The last time I heard those last few words they weren't exactly from the best host." She answered and Luke nodded in understanding. "I was captured by Kylo Ren... he used those words."

"Please... do not use that name here." Luke requested and this time it was her turn to give a brief nod to say that she understood. "My nephew... do you remember him?"

"I knew him before?" She suddenly asked, astonished that she wouldn't remember such a face, but then a brief memory hit her of their fight. 'it is you'.

"Even he remembered... why am I the last to know?"

"Because someone does not want you to know. Your memories have been taken from you by someone." Luke glanced down a moment. "Did you fight with Ben?"

"Yes... he hurt my friends... and I returned the favor." She saw Luke's discomfort with her statement. "You... think he can come back like Leia does? But he's a monster... I saw what he was... what he did... to my friends... he even killed his own father."

"I believe that whoever is meant to be in your life will always gravitate back towards you, regardless of how far they've wandered." Luke knew that she did not understand, but he had watched his father come back and now that he knew Rey was still alive he was sure redemption was possible for Ben.

"You think he's meant to be in mine?" She didn't take the comment too lightly and despite her intentions it came out as a near snarl.

"Yes." He seemed entirely unphased by her tone, but he was the uncle of Kylo Ren after all so she suspected this was quite ordinary to him. "I believe it is in your blood to bridge a gap that was made long ago."

"My blood...?" She was silent then for a moment or two. So then Luke Skywalker did indeed know who they were. "Please... tell me about my parents..."

Luke nodded and thought for a moment where to begin, but just before he could Rey cried out and wrapped her arms around herself, doubling over from pain. He could sense the terror come over her.

"Rey!?" Luke grabbed her by the shoulders, trying to understand what was happening.

"I... can't... breathe..." Rey choked out. "...water... under water... like ice... can't... break out..."

"Rey! Rey, please, you must relax..." He urged, clutching her close and trying his best to comfort her and calm her down, but it seemed that this was of no help as Rey struggled harder, gasping for air until finally she went limp in his arms. "Rey?"

Luke carefully checked her over in an attempt to understand what had just taken place, but physically there was nothing wrong with her. This was something else. He lifted Rey carefully and laid her down more comfortably on his bed before he made his way over to a box in the corner of the room. His hands went to it, but he hesitated a moment and let out a sigh. There was no choice.

He lifted the lid and pulled out a small device and set it up on top of the box before putting the pieces back together and finally hitting the button in the center. There was silence all but for a moment when suddenly the call was answered.

"Luke? Luke is that really you?"

"Leia... there has been an incident... it's Rey..."


	2. Force Bound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke asks Rey not to push herself because the First Order is not rash and will not rush an attack... but that doesn't mean Kylo Ren won't.

After a daring rescue, one would think a man would be grateful, but not Kylo Ren. He was not grateful in the least for the timely and risky rescue that Hux had made. He had kicked and fought and struggled the entire way and Hux wished that he could just safely leave the spoiled brat behind to blow up with the planet, but one could not always have what one wanted. The Supreme Leader needed him and their Leader always knew what was best.

Getting him into a Bacta Tank to heal had proved even more difficult and several stormtroopers were injured and tossed aside like toys by the force user, but eventually they won out due to his wounds sapping all his energy from him. The moment he was weak enough to get close to they had been forced to administer a sedative and that had been that. It had been up to the tank to do the rest of the job.

A few days passed and Hux was informed the improved condition of his rival and he took the chance to stop in and see for himself. Nothing pleased him more then seeing Kylo Ren so helpless and unable to make a move. A smug smirk slowly made it's way to his face as he locked eyes with him. To say that Kylo Ren was angry was an understatement if there ever was one. He'd spent quite some time trashing about, banging his fists against the glass and trying to escape using the force. None of these things worked of course. They had taken precautions against that.

"You don't seem too happy, Ren. Are you still sore that you were defeated by a woman? A scavenger no less?" Hux slowly approached the glass, hands held behind his back as he locked eyes with his rival fearlessly. "I think after that display that surely The Supreme Leader will reconsider your place here."

"...!" There was a long string of bubbles in response and Hux could only imagine the curses that Kylo Ren wanted to spit at him for that.

"If only your mouth was stuffed with a tube at all times. I think it would make a lot of people happy. You wouldn't believe the amount of work one can get done without you running your mouth and acting so high and mighty." Hux lightly brought a hand forward and tapped on the glass. "Have you heard yet the new nickname some of the troopers have given you? I quite like it-"

"General!" A stormtrooper cut in. "The Supreme Commander wishes to speak with you immediately. We found the location of Luke Skywalker. He recently broke his radio silence which allowed us to track him."

"What?" Hux looked stunned that the famous jedi would do something so foolish. "It could be a trick. We must approach cautiously."

He wasted no more time and hurried off with his escort of troopers, leaving Kylo Ren under the watchful eye of Captain Phasma. There was silence for a few moments before the Captain slowly approached and removed her helmet. She had been through hell after that traitor had tossed her into a trash compactor and so she felt sympathetic for Kylo Ren being cooped up in there as she knew just how that felt to be in such a small and confined place.

"What can I do for you?" She asked him cautiously. Personally she had always preferred him over Hux and so she wanted to make sure he was as comfortable as humanly possible. She watched him try and calm his temper and urge with his eyes towards the switch on the control panel. "I cannot let you out."

"...!" A steam of bubbles drew upwards from his frustration as he cursed something into the breathing tube and Phasma glanced from him to the panel.

No. He had saved her life during battle once long ago and so she owed it to him to do him a favor just this once. Phasma hurried over to a breaker on the wall and cut a wire that shut down all power in the sector. She might not be able to free him the simple way, but she could certainly arrange for a power outage and they could take the complicated route.

The glass shattered the second the power went out and she turned just in time to find him ripping the IV from his arm and pulling the tube out of his throat with such a force she was sure he would be sore.

"You will not be escaping here like that..." She eyed him up and down and decided that he was going to need a good cover. "There is armor in the storage there. You can disguise yourself and escape."

He took a few moments to gather himself, but he did not have long. "I will erase your memory so you are not punished for aiding me."

Phasma nodded and held still as he brought a hand up and searched for the memories, painful yes, but worth it to save both of their hides from a much more painful punishment that Hux or Snoke would issue out. Phasma was rendered unconscious, it was appear as if he had knocked her out to escape. Just as he wanted.

The door hissed open and he stepped out, passing two stromtroopers that were working on a panel in the hallway in attempts to solve the power issue. They stopped to salute and he knew that they were none the wiser of the ruse, but he had to make a detour before he could leave. He had to get the location of Luke Skywalker and head there before anyone else could. While he knew it was a risk, it was one he had to take. He had to redeem himself no matter what it took.

He hurried down the hallway to the communication room and passed around back the confused technicians trying to figure out where the blackout had come from. It would not take long at all for them to figure it out and get it back online. He had to hurry. He had to get the holodisc that held all the exchanged messages, because it would hold the exchange of information that lead to Luke Skywalker.

There on the desk he slowly passed by and snatched it up and none of the techs had noticed a single thing. With that he made his way out and then straight down to the flight deck. Here he picked out what he knew was the quickest ship. Not a single trooper dared to question him as they all thought he was a common trooper and to this end he launched his ship from the deck without a single incident, but it would not be long before they found out and started their hunt for him.

He had to be quicker.

* * *

Drowning. She was drowning. Her lungs desperately screamed for air as she tried to break free from whatever was keeping her down in this dark, scary place. It was absolute terror that was suddenly bubbling up inside of her and she was absolutely sure that she was going to die. Her vision was darkening as death reached up and curled around her being.

"Rey, relax." A voice echoed inside of her mind and Rey abruptly felt the nightmare shatter and she gasped for sweet, precious air that finally made it's way into her lungs. She sat up abruptly and searched the darkened room.

"Rey... you're awake. How do you feel?" Luke stepped out from the shadows, seemingly having been woken by her. "Can you at all tell me what happened?"

"I..." she paused momentarily to try and put it all together in a way that made as much sense as possible. "I was... trapped... under the water... by something... like ice... it was cold to the touch. I couldn't get out."

"Ice..." Luke placed a hand on his beard and slowly soothed it downwards as he tried to think of something that would account for what had happened to her. "The water part... is similar... when you were younger you feel into a lake, but there was no ice. Perhaps Snoke is attempting to play off of your fears to get you to turn to him as he did with Ben."

"Water... but... I'm... not afraid of water..."

"No, but it was a terrifying moment." He then started a slow pace about the room. "You must be careful Rey... Snoke is a master of deceit. If you have fears he will use them, because fear leads to hate... and hate leads to the dark side."

"I would never side with them." Rey swore as she clenched a fist by her side. The thought alone of her ever doing anything to help Snoke was ridiculous. She would chose death before she would serve a snake like him.

"Good. I believe the only way to defeat Snoke is to find the first jedi temple. With no mentors left, we must find the knowledge the ancients left behind to restore the jedi. It is the only way." Luke folded his hands into his sleeves. "We must soon depart from this location. I was forced to contact Leia. The First Order will have picked up on the signal."

"They're coming here? We have to go right away then." Rey attempted to get up, but she barely had the strength and nearly fell before Luke caught her.

"Rey... you must be patient... something is happening to you right now... that is the reason I've contacted Leia. We must discover the source of your ailment." He eased her back into the bed. "Rest for now. It will take time for them to make their plans. They are not rash fools that will rush into an attack."

"But-"

"No buts. You've been through so much in such a short time. To begin your training you must first allow your body and mind to recover."

She might have argued more if she wasn't so tired. Whatever was happening to her really was taking it's toll. All she could do was put her trust in Luke that he and Leia would figure it out and help her. After all... they had saved the galaxy and she trusted that they would save her as well. So she closed her eyes and gave into the demands for sleep.

* * *

There were no nightmares. No terror. No rage. No water nor feeling of drowning. There was something else in it's place... something distant and familiar. A feeling that had no description. Just warmth. A faint rumble of thunder drew her out of her sleep and from the bed towards the window.  
It was pouring down rain and she did not see Luke, but she distinctly heard voices outside through the rain. They raised, grew louder and she made her way to the door to try and make it out. She peeked out the doorway cautiously and see the two figures in a flash of lightning, both soaked to the bone.

"This is reckless." Luke insisted.

"Everything... I have ever done... has been reckless to you... Master Luke." The voice bit out in a snarl as he pulled the trooper helmet away and tossed it down into the mud, igniting that familiar red crossguarded saber. Rey gasped in shock that he could be here and suddenly he glanced over at her.

It surprised her because there should have been no way he would be able to hear that over the roaring rain and wind if they both had to yell to hear one another, but somehow he had known she was there. Another flash of lightning lit up their surroundings.

"Ben...-"

"Stop calling me that!"

"You are ill... I will fight you when you have recovered!" Luke insisted more strongly.

"I wasted enough time in that Bacta Tank! I will beat you now!" Now he shouted loudly over the storm and charged forward as if he had something to prove.

Luke had no desire to use his saber against his nephew and so he instead brought a hand out and shoved him back hard with a force push. He watched as his nephew landed hard against a stone that jammed into his back and Luke knew it couldn't be helped, but Rey yelped in pain and dropped to a knee. It drew Luke's attention and he stared in astonishment, but in his distraction he did not notice his opponent getting back up and only turned just in time to narrowly avoid losing an arm.

"Ben!" Luke cried out and grabbed his arm, it was a minor burn. He glanced up as his nephew raised the blade for the killing blow and quickly raised his arm to hold him with the force. "Listen to me, Ben!"

Rey recovered from the pain and glanced up just in time to see that Luke was in danger. She mustered up her strength and grabbed her saber and quickly charged to slammed into Ben hard, tackling them both to the ground.

"No! Rey!" Luke watched as the two struggled into another fight, both seemingly unable to hear him. "BEN!"

Leaving him with no choice Luke ignited his saber and put his blade between theirs before they clashed. They both shot him a glance of surprise, but Ben's anger took over and he made to strike at Luke and Rey was forced to reengage with him to protect her master.

"Stay out of it!" He snarled at her when she once again got in his way of killing Luke.

"Make me!" She retorted in challenge.

"Both of you stop it! Don't you understand what's happened here?!" Despite his words the battle continued on and Luke decided to switch tactics to one he knew had to work. "Why did you leave Rey on Jakku, Ben?"

Rey quickly glanced at Luke as Ben faltered and sputtered before ducking to avoid the clumsy swing that Rey had made towards him. This entire battle was a mess. It was raining, it was slippery and it was dark and hard to tell what was happening outside the glow of their sabers.

"I... don't know what you're talking about!" He snapped back, lips curling back into a snarl as their battle progressed further backwards in a mix of red, blue and green. He brought his leg back and slammed it into Luke's ribs, sending the older man back several paces and then he grabbed Rey's wrist just in time and she caught his. It was the same stalemate as the last time.

"Let go!" She shouted as she struggled against his strength. Why did he seem stronger then she recalled?

"You let go first!"

"No way! You're a bad guy! If I let go first you'll cheat."

"I am not a bad guy." He grew irritated to be accused of cheating and tightened his grip until he felt the pain in his wrist and glanced over to find Luke had grabbed both their arms.

"Please, listen to me. The both of you." Luke insisted, having put away his saber to try and show he wanted only a peaceful conversation, but his nephew was having none of it and with a hard shoved all three of them slipped on the muddy ground, stumbled around to try and get their footing until... a flash of lighting revealed just how close to the edge of the cliff they were... and Rey slipped backwards over the edge, unable to regain her footing.

For a brief second Luke glanced at his nephew and saw the expression there that expression from long ago and the next second he dropped his saber, shoved Luke aside and leapt over the side after her.

"Ben!" Luke quickly found his footing again and glanced over the edge, but he could see nothing.

* * *

Everything was such a blur at first. The flash of red, blue and green and then suddenly she was falling, falling into swirling darkness and it hurt. At first it was terribly painful when she hit the water it felt quite close to having fallen on stone, but then she was sinking into the raging darkness and no matter how much she tried and struggled she simply could not find the surface nor get anywhere near it.

And then in that darkness and the freezing cold something grabbed her and she struggled and fought, but it was pointless when she couldn't even see all the way down here. It wrapped around her and suddenly a flash hit her. The sound of children laughing, a loud splash... and it was gone just as soon as it came and she felt herself break the surface of the water and took in precious air in large gasps.

"Ben!" Luke called out, shining the light out towards him and holding out his hand to help them and Rey watched as he hesitated a moment before he took Luke's hand and allowed him to help them out of the water. "Are you alright, Rey?"

"... I..." She wasn't sure what to say or what to think this was all so much to take in.

"it is alright. I understand." Luke said and she was relieved to not have to try and explain what was impossible to explain. "Ben... since you are unarmed... you will speak peacefully with us."

That was when he suddenly glanced down at his hip for his saber and realized what he had done so rashly and he aburptly started to make a move but Luke ignited his blade and held it to Ben's throat before he could do so.

"Do not even think it... if I hurt you it will in turn hurt Rey. The Force has chosen to connect you." Luke informed him and then tossed a rope to Rey and she understood without him having to say it. His nephew had to be tied up. There was no way he could be trusted and he was outmatched so he begrudgingly allowed her to tie his wrists together. After what he had done to his father... even though he had saved her... she still did not trust him.

A low growl escaped him as he took notice of the pleased look on Luke's face. It irritated him beyond belief that he had been so foolish and rash. This was the second time that he had lost... to her... because of her. If Snoke were to learn of this... that would be the end for him. There would be no forgiveness for a second mistake like this. It seemed the deal was sealed as he stepped inside the hut, because it officially made him their prisoner.

"Have a seat, nephew." Luke insisted with a light force shove into the seat as he grabbed two blankets, draped one over Rey and the other cautiously over his nephew. It was a dangerous game to have him so close, especially since it was difficult to see the expression on his shadowed face in the candle light and hence difficult to know if he was plotting something.

"Please... tell me what is happening. You said that the First Order wouldn't be so rash." Rey began in worry.

"The First Order is not rash. Ben... on the other hand... Ben is." Luke responded and it earned him a sharp glare and a bare of teeth. it made Luke feel as if he had captured a rabid wolf rather then his own nephew. "More importantly... Ben has some things he needs to explain. I'll ask again, Ben... why did you take Rey to that place?"

With a low growling sigh Ben glanced off to the side. "She was the last one left... they left her to me to finish... but I was weak... and my weakness has led me here to my own capture. I should have killed her."

"You? You left me on Jakku? My mother left me there not you!" Rey stepped forward, clenching her fists. "They promised to come back to me!"

"Go on, Ben. Tell her the truth." Luke said and another sigh left his nephew as he gritted his teeth.

"No... you never knew your parents..."

"...no..." Rey took a step back. "That's not true... it's not true! I remember them!"

"No. They are false memories. I gave them to you." He grew faintly irritated that she wouldn't just accept it.

"Why?! Why would you do it?!" She grabbed him by the collar of his uniform and shook him, tears building in her eyes from a swirling thunderstorm of emotion. She was not sure what was worse... if it was the fact that she had never really known her parents, that all she knew was a lie... or that a monster had given her a fake past and made her life a lie.

He glanced off to the side again, for long moments he was silent before he turned his face back towards her. "Because I wanted you to be happy... you were just a little girl."

"What could a monster possibly know about happiness?" Rey turned towards Luke then, eyes pleading. "Please, tell me it isn't true."

"I wish I could, Rey." Luke felt nothing but sympathy because he recalled when he first found out the truth of his own parents. "Your father was a brave pilot, but he was killed in combat and your mother... well... her last wish was for you to be left with us to train to become a jedi because you showed early signs of being force sensitive... I'm very sorry that you had to learn this way."

"Don't leave out the best part... Uncle." Ben cut in.

"I'm getting to that. It involves you." Luke waved a hand dismissively at his nephew because he knew he was going to attempt to make bitter comments this entire session. "You're a Kenobi, Rey. And that is why you and my nephew must not fight. You will only be re-fighting the battle of your grandfathers... and we know how it will end... don't we, Ben?"

"A... Kenobi...?" she asked, briefly shooting a glance at their makeshift prisoner when she felt his glare burn through her. The swirl of anger inside of him at Luke's dismissal of him and his abilities stung at her like a hot iron.

"Yes. Kenobi was the true hero that saved us from the Empire. Had it not been for him I may still be on a desert planet. In the face of darkness he was incorruptible and selfless." Luke glanced at his nephew once more. "I had always thought it might be our bloodline that would bring balance back to The Force, but I see now that I was wrong... it is yours, Rey."

"Why does it have to be me? Why can it not be you?" Rey grabbed her head in her hands and tried to hold off the aching headache, but it was no use.

"Stop... thinking so much..." Once again Ben cut in, but with a pained growl of irritation.

"It isn't as if it affects you!" She suddenly snapped back.

"It affects you both. Have you not realize yet or are you in the first stages of denial? While you may be able to ignore it in it's early stages... you will not be able to for long." Luke said as he set a hand on Rey's shoulder and guided her to sit down across from Ben, far as he possibly could get her from him. "You have developed a Force Bond."

"How can you be so sure?" Rey blanched at the thought of being bonded to that monster in any way sickened her to the core... and then a misplaced sense of twisted pleasure that she was sure was not her own.

"I was not sure at first. In fact I had no idea... not until your shared his pain... not until..." Luke glanced between them. "Your memories were erased... so your fear of drowning should not have surfaced... but Ben... you spent time in a Bacta Tank... your force bond connected you. You panicked when you were conscious again under water and unable to breathe on your own did you not? You triggered Rey's fear... and you are ill from your wounds... Rey shows signs of illness, but she is not sick."

"How is this possible?" It was Ben's turn to ask the questions, but he seemed more decisive and plotting... as if he intended to learn what he could and use it to his advantage.

"You are the ones that have caused it. I have no answer to how, but I can explain to you what it is. It has been common to occur between a master and their padawan, on rare occasions in others in... more antagonistic roles. A Force Bond varies. I cannot tell you what you will be able to do with it." Luke was doing his utmost to maintain himself, but sitting here with these two brought back memories both good and bad and it was difficult to be true to his jedi code when he so badly wanted to scold his nephew for all that he had done.

"Yet..." Ben smirked faintly, lowing his head even further. "The Jedi did not like to form such connections. Open your life to passion and risk exposing yourself to the darkside... are you not afraid that I will influence her?"

"The bond is formed. I can do nothing, but I believe she is more then strong enough to resist your temptations."

"The Jedi were fools to not realize the potential-"

"How do you break it?" Rey suddenly asked, breaking back into the conversation after having been forced to run such a vast amount of thoughts through her mind in such a short time. She may still be very confused about all of this, but there was one thing she was sure of. "I want him out..."

"To break a bond... it is not so simple... one of you... would have to die..." Luke began. "but even then the bond would not go away... you would be left with the equivalent of a festering wound."

"Having him inside my mind once was enough!" She shouted, becoming frustrated with the situation.

"I am sorry, Rey. I wish that there was a way for me to help you. Perhaps the temple will hold more answers than I can give... we will leave for there the moment daylight breaks." He promised her. "I can only ask that for now you get as much rest as you can..."

With those final words Luke made to secure things for the night, both making sure there was no evidence of The First Order as well as securing Ben for the night so there would be no means of escape and making sure that Rey was made as comfortable as possible... although the circumstances... did nothing to make it easy. It would prove to be a most difficult night.

* * *

The night had been one of the roughest nights she had ever weathered and she had been through some rough ones. Dreams and strange thoughts plagued her and she found herself endlessly restless. A small shaft of light streamed through the window and into her eyes, making her close them more tightly against the invasion... but it eventually won out and she sat up groggily.

There across from her she noticed her enemy... or prisoner now was it? It seemed he had not slept and instead spent his time watching Luke who was now making a transmission outside just out of earshot... and when he noticed she was awake he glanced over at him to give her a full view of his face.

Now in the light of day she got a clear look at his face. He looked so deathly pale. And his face... at the time she hadn't really thought about it... not in the heat of battle, but she had done severe damage to his face. A scar ran from beneath the collar of the armor he wore all the way up to the bridge of his nose and then straight up into his hairline.

The only thing that she could not understand was why he had not been taking care of himself. It was clear from the scruff on his chin and above his mouth that he had not even taken the time to worry over his own appearance and the sickly pale of his skin that he'd not worried of his health. Was he really so rash that he would refuse his own health and rush here to take revenge on her?

Do you regret it? A voice seemed to ask, but she could only faintly shake her head and respond with no. She did not. He had deserved it for what he had done.

"I should thank you... now I will not be forced to see Han Solo when I see my reflection." He stated and she scowled at him. He was so unpleasant.

"...How did you know what I was even..." Her fists slowly clenched as she realized it. "Stay out of my head."

_'Make me._ ' He challenged mentally.

Two could play this game.

_'Fine. Ben.'_ Her response made him falter and his expression fell.

"Don't... ever call me that again..."

"Then stay out of my head."

His eyes shifted as he thought deeply about something and she tried to control this bond so that she didn't have to hear his insane ravings. She wanted nothing to do with him and if it was possible she intended to break this bond. There had to be a way.

"Why do you not train with me? I can be your teacher... Luke will only limit your abilities... the Jedi are weak..."

"Weakness is giving in to the darkness." Rey responded and he narrowed his eyes at her. It seemed he did not like hearing it. "It all started with that lightsaber..."

"What?"

"The moment I touched it... that is when all of this happened... those visions... of the past or the future?"

"Visions?" His expression further shifted and he glanced up at her. "You touched it... and you saw the objects past?"

"I don't know what I saw."

"It is called Psychometry. Where touching an object allows a force user to see the objects memories, tap into past and future." He explained and then he glanced down. "The Jedi forbid it. They believed that it exposes you to the dark side of the force. Luke would see to it that your abilities never fully prosper. You could become an expert tracker like-"

"I don't want to. I don't want any of this."

"You don't want it?" Everything in him expressed utter confusion. Who would not want such a power? "All that power... you don't want it?"

"No. Not if it means becoming like you." She responded bitterly. "Not if it means becoming a murderer that kidnaps children and turns their lives into lies."

"A murderer?" He asked her.

"You killed your own father."

"Han... Solo. I've killed hundreds... thousands... of enemies across a hundred different planets but... this is... the only times I've ever truly felt like a murderer. And yet... I'm justifying it to myself even now... that the end warranted the means..." There was a glimpse of Ben Solo through the haze of darkness as he spoke. A spark of something, but it did nothing to calm the rage that was building inside of her.

"You stole my memories from me!"

"I wanted you have happy memories... and I needed you to stay there. Ben Solo had a dream about what he would have liked his parents to have been like... it made him happy... just for a little while... and so I gave it to you."

He lowered his head and found some spot on the floor to gaze at. He could not bring himself to face her after such a confession. Regardless of wanting to or not she felt the bitter pain deep down inside of him. The isolation, the fear... the loneliness... and the abandonment... even the betrayal. It made it hard to keep the anger inside of her when she knew those feelings so well herself. Real or not she still knew them.

"Why Jakku? Of all the places...?" As Rey asked this final question her shoulders slumped and despite how much she wanted to hate and despise him... she felt sorry for him instead.

"I know... it was a harsh place, but he had promised to take care of you... I had to take into consideration your inability to swim... I had no time to teach you and you loved the water too much to stay away."

"He didn't take care of me."

"I'm sorry."

"What are you to me?" Rey finally questioned and for a moment he said nothing which left her to think he was finished talking, but then he lifted his head and met her eyes.

"You need to return to the beginning if you want the answers to your questions. Take it from me."

"Take it? It was so painful when you went inside of my head..." Though he might deserve it she was still linked to him and she had no desire to feel that again any time soon.

"Only because you resisted me. There will be no resistance here. Take what you need." He insisted.

Rey chose silence in this moment as she considered what she should do, but it was not at all a difficult choice. He had stolen something from her and all she would be doing was taking it back. It belonged to her.

"I'll only take what belongs to me."

"Do not make promises you cannot keep."

She was unsure of what he meant by that, but she knew that she had to regain her true memories if she was going to move forward from here. There was no other way. She reached out cautiously and set a hand against the side of his head... and she focused on The Force to search for her long lost memories.

* * *


	3. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "If moments are fleeting, memories are permanent." - Unknown

* * *

**_Stars exploded before her eyes and she fell into the memories like falling through shattered glass, each piece a distant memory... but each of them sharing one quality... they all started with a young, dark haired boy._ **

It was the dead of night and the only light was a special nightlight that gave off the shapes of ships and planets and stars onto the ceiling and walls. The young boy watched the shapes to distract himself from the darkness he feared. And suddenly he had something else to fear as there was a loud crash and the shouting started... and the young boy pulled the blankets over his head and hid as he listened to the fighting and screaming of his parents downstairs.

It went on for the longest time and finally a door slammed and there was silence. The boy waited for a time before he finally gathered the courage to get out of bed and pad his way over to the door and open it. Still there was silence and he made his way over to the stairs and into the living quarters.  
There on the couch he saw his mother, holding a hand over her eyes and sniffling softly. The entire room was a mess. Various broken decorations littered the floor.

"Mommy?" He questioned and his mother suddenly rubbed at her eyes and tried to compose herself the best she could.

"Ben... have you had another nightmare?" She saw the fear in his face and it broke her heart that he had to wake up from terror into more of it. She turned and held her arms out for him and without hesitation he ran into them. "It's alright. Mommy and Daddy just had a silly argument. It's nothing you need to worry yourself over."

"Has he left again?"

Leia was surprised at his tone, but knew he would know if she were to lie to him, because the moment his father was gone for days on end he would know it.

"...yes. He's left again."

And in that moment the young boy felt the hate start to fester in his heart for the man he called his father. All he ever did was make his mother cry and then leave them both to fend for themselves. His poor mother was forced to carry such a burden. He was young but not stupid and he knew how hard she struggled... and he hated his father for putting them in this situation.

"Ben... tomorrow... we're going to go see Uncle Luke."

**_It was an unexpected place to start. She had pressed too deeply within his mind. She had to travel forward some more. This was not what she was searching for. Rey glanced past this memory and into another._ **

"But... I don't want to go..." The young Ben Solo who could not be more then ten clung to his mother desperately as he glanced out the window of the craft to see the man awaiting him on the landing pad. "Please don't make me. I'll be good. I promise!"

"Ben... it isn't about being good or bad." Leia kneeled in front of him and gently stroked his hair back.

"Then why are you leaving me...?" Despite himself the boy began to cry, shed tears and rub at his eyes desperately because he was afraid that if he cried too hard his mother would leave him for sure.

"I'm not leaving you. I'm bringing you here to train because you're going to become a Jedi like Uncle Luke. Isn't that exciting?"

"But mommy I want to stay with you, please! I'll do anything!"

It broke Leia's heart to see him like this and to be forced to leave her child, but she had no choice. It was for his own safety. The ship made it's rough landing and the doors opened allowing them to step out and be greeted by Luke.

"Leia... Ben... it's so good to see you again." Luke rocked a small bundle in his arms and glanced at Ben. "You've grown so much. Are you excited to train with me?"

"..." Ben didn't answer and instead rubbed at his eyes again, trying to fight off the anxiety of what was about to come.

"Luke..." Leia began and glanced at the bundle in her brother's arms. "What do you have there?"

"A baby uncle Luke? I thought Jedi weren't allowed to be married?" Ben asked suddenly in confusion. He had studied the rules as best he could before coming here, trying to please his mother.

"Ah... so you have been studying." Luke was pleased that his nephew had taken an interest in studying so soon. "You're not wrong. The rules are still in place. This is Rey... her father... left her to me."

"Oh... Luke... no..." Leia gave a knowing look and Luke smiled sadly, but he said nothing more as neither wanted to mention such a thing in front of a child. But the boy knew what they meant without them even having to say it.

"Ahhh, so sorry to interrupt." C-3PO suddenly cut in, coming down off the ramp. "We simply must leave now if we are to arrive in time for the meeting with the Senate."

"Of course. You're right." Leia quickly hugged her son in a tight embrace. "I'll visit. I promise you. Be a good boy for your uncle, Ben."

With that Leia made her way back onto the ship and Luke held out his gloved hand for Ben to take and they both watched as Leia's ship slowly lifted and took off far, far away from here. It broke the boy's heart and despite his best efforts the tears started to steam down anew as he watched his mother leave him. Now not only had his father left, but also his mother.

"Ben... don't cry." Luke's voice cut into his thoughts.

Ben sniffled and tired to rub the tears away all over again, but it was so difficult. He felt so lost and so afraid. So lonely. The mother he loved and trusted so much just left him here so easily and so quickly.

"Sorry... uncle Luke..."

"It's alright." Luke glanced at his nephew and then thought of something that might help to distract him. "I haven't introduced you to Rey, yet have I? Rey... this is Ben... and Ben... meet Rey."

"Hi, Rey..." Ben introduced himself quite seriously and attempted a formal tone that he had been taught by his mother despite his young age. Luke smiled and found it humorous, but was happy he was making an effort.

"Do you want to hold her?" Luke questioned and Ben nodded and held his arms out. "It is a big responsibility. Make sure you support her head."

He carefully handed the young infant to Ben, making sure he kept his arms nearby just in case. It was an instant connection between the two and Rey made a little sound of acknowledgement. For the first time in a long time Luke saw Ben smile. He had always been aware of how troubled Ben was and it did worry him, but perhaps here he would have a better chance at the future. Luke hoped that it was the start of a bright new beginning for them all.

_**That memory shattered.** _

Ben waited for his mother's ship to arrive at the landing pad. His excitement was growing as he thought about seeing his mother's face for the first time in months. Finally there he saw it! The ship was slowly coming in for a landing and he stepped back as the doors opened and he saw the familiar golden glint of C-3PO.

"C-3PO! Where is mom? Is she in the back resting? It was a long flight wasn't it?" Ben questioned and stepped forward.

"Master Ben..." C-3PO began and then Ben's face fell at the tone. "Your mother unfortunately cannot be here. There was an incident in the senate and-"

Ben didn't even wait a moment longer to hear another word and turned and sprinted away from the landing pad as quickly as his legs would carry him. In the distance he distinctly heard C-3PO's cries of worry, but he did not stop running for the longest time. It seemed like he ran for hours until finally he no longer had the strength to go on and he doubled over and set his hands on his knees, panting heavily.

Despite how hard he had tried to run away from the horrible feelings that trailed behind him they all caught up with him and he dropped to his knees. Tears fell down as he reached up and grabbed a fistful of grass and finally sobbed out all the pain inside of him.

"Hey." A voice called out. "Are you okay?"

"It's Ben Solo, Nileeta. He's a crybaby like that all the time because Master Luke is his uncle and he can get away with it. Just leave him there and let's finish our training."

Ben's fists clenched harder in the grass as he sniffled and glanced up at the other students. It was always like this. "I'm not a crybaby, Darin..."

"Yeah right! You cry every time your mommy doesn't come to see you!" Darin responded and some of the other boys were unable to stifle their laughter. Although, Nileeta seemed more sympathetic, but she still did nothing to stop it. "All our moms left but you don't see us crying! You're just a coward, crybaby! You aren't even worthy to be trained by Master Luke."

Those words piled on top of his pain and weighed him down, pulled him into a very dark place. His shoulders began to shake with rage and he gritted his teeth and slowly forced himself to his feet and glared at the boys. "I'm not a coward!"

"So you say with your mouth, but you're really a coward. I bet that's why your mom can't stand to see you. She hates knowing she raised a coward." Darin crossed his arms over his chest and smirked.

That last string snapped and Ben screamed and charged at Darin and tackled the other boy to the ground and punched him hard in the face, all his pent up feelings behind the fist. The other boys glanced at one another in shock and quickly grabbed Ben and pulled him off Darin.

"I dare you to say it again!" Ben snapped.

"Agh! Hold him still!" Darin snapped and wiped the blood from his nose as he stepped forward and punched Ben in the stomach, then the face and proceeded from there to violently beat him. Another blow to the stomach made his insides churn and Ben dropped to his knees and barely stopped himself from vomiting.

The moment he was down the other two joined in like a pack of animals after their prey. The pack mentality won the fight and the group started kicking him relentlessly. Eventually he stopped trying to fight, because this pain was so much easier to feel then the ache in his heart... and he instead focused on the physical ache in his beaten body because he preferred it.

Eventually they grew tired when he simply gave up and took it as a sign of defeat and surrender and without a word they left him there. He lifted his head slowly and glared at their backs, silently swearing that he would get his revenge someday. He was going to train even harder and he was going to make them pay for treating him this way.

Once he felt enough strength he got up and limped his way back to the temple where his uncle resided. It seemed like it took forever to make the painful trip back, but finally he arrived and there he saw his uncle rocking the young Rey in his arms.

"Uncle...-"

"Ben." Luke acknowledged, having yet turned to look at him and he dreaded what Luke might say if he found out the truth. Found out that he was so weak that he'd been put in that situation and when Luke finally did turn around the happy smile on his face faded and his lips parted in shock. "Ben... what happened?"

"I... I fell..." Ben decided to lie for the shame he felt at losing a fight so badly.

"Jedi do not lie." Luke turned and handed Rey off to the caretaker droid and kneeled in front of Ben to inspect his wounds more closely. "Tell me the truth."

"... the other students said I was a cry baby and privileged only because of you... and I got mad..."

"You fought with them? You should have come to me. I will handle it." Luke stood up with a sigh. "Ben... from now on you mustn't call me uncle. You must refer to me as Master Luke. I cannot have the other students believing that you are treated with special privileges like that."

With that Luke patted his shoulder and left the room to go and repair the damage that had been done and Ben turned and stared after him, shoulders slumping. So he was no longer allowed to call him uncle. Had he shamed Luke that much? He felt even more betrayed... his father... his mother... and now even his uncle... they wanted nothing to do with him.

"Master Ben." The care droid began as it set Rey into her crib. "Allow me to treat your injuries."

"No thank you." Ben responded dully and slowly made his way over to the crib and the moment Rey saw him she gurgled and reached her tiny hands out to him. She was like him. Left behind by her parents. He related to it. She may not exactly be fully aware of things, but she was aware that her mother figure was missing. All children knew those things. "At least you like me, Rey. I'll make sure you never have to feel sad like this. I promise."

_**Rey skipped forward into memories and continued walking through the shattered glass like appearance and she was slowly regaining her own memories. Slowly remembering how they had grown close as children. She had known Ben Solo personally...?** _

A young seven year old Rey stared up from her where she was lying on the hill beneath a beautifully blooming cherry blossom at a seventeen year old Ben Solo as he approached her, just having finished his training for the day.

It was very obvious that he was not the same innocent boy that was so sensitive and hurt so easily. Over the years he had grown to become so cold and calculating. At least with everyone else. With her a little bit of himself still shinned through.

"Ben!" She leapt up from her spot and launched herself into him, hitting him directly in the stomach as she latched onto him. She heard his brief exhale as she knocked the wind out of him, but still lifted her up into his arms.

"Rey... have you finished all your homework?" His expression was troubled, she could tell... she could feel it radiating off him in waves.

"Mmmhm." She nodded, but glanced at the discoloring in his face, a few dark bruises that looked like he hadn't done so well in a sparring match. "You look sad."

"No." Ben denied it and lifted her up high in his arms and found a comfortable place underneath the tree to sit down with her and allow her to make herself comfortable in his lap. Once she situated herself she glanced at him and pouted. It made her so unhappy that he would lie to her. "Why are you making that face?"

"You're a liar."

"A liar?"

"You look so sad." Rey answered and held onto the collar of his robes and watched him tilt his head to the side.

"Mmm. It's only a white lie." He admitted. "I was sad, but... I'm happy now that I'm with you."

"Oh." It made sense to her and so she allowed it to slide that he had lied to her. Master Luke had told her it went against the Jedi way to lie and she always made sure to never do that as she wanted to be a Jedi someday so that she could always be with Ben and Master Luke. They were the only family she had.

"Guess what I've brought." Ben changed the subject and she locked eyes with him and they challenged one another for a moment in attempts to guess and then she set a hand against his chest and felt the hard square under the cloth.

"You did bring it! I thought it got stolen."

"It did. I retrieved it from the thief and gave him a good trashing." He responded over dramatically and reached into his robes to pull out the poetry book that she so loved for him to read to her from. Her exuberant smile dissipated when she added something up.

"... Ben did you get hurt because you were getting our book back?" The young girl questioned and the corners of his mouth turned downwards. She knew from personal experience that the other students didn't like him and they often got into physical fights with him so it was no surprise that she added up the story behind his bruised face and the sudden reappearance of the stolen book.

"I won." He insisted as if winning was all that mattered and to him... it was. "Anyway... enough of that. Let's pick up where we left off shall we?"

As he searched for the page they left off on she got more comfortable and rested her head against his chest where she could hear the steady beat of his heart and the rumble of his deep and soothing voice. It wasn't particularly the words, but merely the sound of his voice. He could be reading any book and it would be fine. He never had to fight for it.

It didn't take long for her to fall asleep against him as he read and he briefly took a glance down at her and decided to finish the rest in silence to allow her the rest as he cradled her closely in his arms. He would always keep her safe like this and he would never let go, never let anything harm her.

**_As she watched the memories Rey felt a particular oddness. To be able to feel both of their emotions at once... was almost too much. She progressed through the memories to a particularly sunny day._ **

Rey was exploring the other young padawans. They were on their own little adventure while Master Luke was in a meeting with the older students. The flowers were so colorful in the gardens. There was every shape and size. It was like something from a fairy tale. Absolutely bursting with life. Her connection to The Force connected her to the life all around her. Every tree, every plant and flower.

The lake was always so blue and so beautiful. There was nowhere else quite like it. The cool breeze that rolled off the water stirred up the small golden specks of pollen and leaves alike really brought to mind just how filled with life this whole world was.

And then a familiar presence near by. She glanced up to see Ben pass by the gardens towards the meeting room. She wanted to see him today, but he was in such a rush she knew better then to approach him. The other children all froze when Ben passed by, because they all feared him like the rest of the students. His temper was very well known to everyone here.

"Rey, why do you spend time with Ben? He's so scary..." One of the younger girls spoke up uneasily.

"Ben isn't scary, Unie. He's actually really nice and he always reads my favorite book to me." Rey responded with a faint smile. It made her happy just thinking about him. He was her protector who had always been there when she needed him most.

"He's only nice to you. If it's anyone else he's mean." A boy butted in.

"Tarth, if Rey says he's nice I believe her." Unie replied, crossing her arms with a pout. Rey had never been a liar.

"She's only saying that because she's in love with him!" Tarth shouted back.

"I am not!" Rey frowned at their words. What did they know?

"Nuh-uh, Tarth you're just saying that because you love, Rey!" Unie shot back and the boy's face turned beat red.

"That's a lie!" He defended.

A throat cleared and the students glanced up to find Master Skywalker and Ben standing there before them. They exchanged glances and then Ben glanced off to the side and Rey winced a little in hopes that he didn't hear that entire argument, but somehow she felt that he had. She wondered if he was upset.

"M-Master Skywalker... I... thought there was a meeting." Tarth wheezed out.

"Oh, but there was." Luke began, barely maintaining his smile. "It's over now. I just hope my young students haven't been fighting?"

"No! Never!" The young padawan tried to worm his way out of the hole he had dug... and Luke was unable to keep his straight face anymore and a smile broke out as he chuckled lightly and patted the boy's head.

"You have much to learn." Then he turned his attention to Rey. "Rey, come along. We have something to discuss."

Luke and Ben started to head off in the direction of the lake and Rey hurried to catch up with their longer strides. It was easier to catch up with Ben because he always stayed a pace behind his master. When she finally manage to catch up he glanced at her with a faint smile and held a hand out. She almost reached out for it, instinctively, but then she remembered what the other students said and she quickly retracted and kept to herself.

She didn't want the other students to see and make more comments against Ben, but the moment she saw the hurt expression cross his features she immediately regretted it. She almost felt his pain as clearly as she might feel her own at such a rejection. His hand dropped back at his side and he glanced off into the distance somewhere.

"Rey, as you know we just returned from a meeting." Luke stated very matter-of-factly. "Did you know what the meeting was about?"

"No Master Luke." Rey glanced up curiously.

"Ben and his classmates are going to become Jedi... and although you can't participate Ben and I wanted to know if you would like to come along?"

"Can I really come with?!"

"You can."

"I would love it!" Rey said with excitement, but that didn't last too long when she second thought herself. Luke had said Ben also wanted her to come along, but she had just hurt his feelings and she wondered if he still wanted that. She glanced at his face and tried to figure out if he was upset with her or not, but he had the same expression he always wore. He was too hard to read.

"It will be a long journey. Prepare yourself." Luke informed. "You may return to your friends, Rey. Ben and I still have things to discuss."

 _ **These next few brief memories Rey chose to walk past. These memories were all leading up to the moment of truth and she wanted to reach the end.**_  
_  
_ The older students that would become Jedi very soon all gathered in front of the ship where Luke stood.

"You are all here today, because I have decided that it is time for you to become Jedi. This trial is called The Gathering. It is an important Jedi rite of passage. We will be traveling to the planet of Ilum." Luke informed them. "The Jedi of old would endure this struggle at a bit younger age, but I made the decision to wait a little longer for this particular class."

"Because of Ben." One student scoffed quietly and Luke did not look at nor acknowledge the one who made the comment. He merely acted as if it had never been said at all.

"Have you all made sure to pack everything you will require for a long trip?" Luke asked and everyone gave their affirmation. "Very well. Let us be on our way then shall we?"

Again Ben distanced himself from everyone and boarded the ship to find a seat that was far away from everyone else. Nobody would dare sit next to him, but that suited him just perfectly. Everyone had paired up together and there he was left sitting alone again just as he always was. One might think that being the nephew of Luke Skywalker would be a positive thing that would earn you respect, but it turned out it was the exact opposite. The others were jealous of him and so they treated him like an outcast.

Luke's hands were tied, because if he were to say something then it would be considered favoritism among the other students, but at the same time Rey thought he should say something, because they were getting away with being cruel and it was against the Jedi way.

The door slowly closed and sealed with a hiss and the ship jolted as it began it's liftoff. It startled her because she had never been off the planet before. She felt herself growing nervous. She quickly took a seat next to Ben, but when she glanced up at his face she was met with an unfamiliar expression.

"Why are you here? Sit somewhere else." He insisted suddenly, folding his hands into his sleeves as he glanced away from her.

"Why...?" She asked quietly, but she thought it must be because of what happened the other day. "Because I hurt your feelings yesterday? I'm sorry."

"What? No... you didn't hurt my feelings."

"You're a liar." She frowned and watched his lips curl up into a scowl. He let out a low sigh then and shook his head.

"They were making fun of you, because you spent time with me. That is the truth is it not?"

"But... I don't care."

"I do." His voice lowered even further. "Your reputation isn't... it isn't worth it. I don't want you to have live like I have. It's time to separate yourself from me. You have to grow up some day... and I won't always be around."

He wouldn't always be around. What did that mean? The tone in his voice and the way that he said it sent an uncomfortable chill down her spine.

"Are you going away, Ben?" She reached out and grabbed onto his robes as if she could hold him here and stop him from leaving... and as her voice broke so did his heart. It was nearly unbearable.

"I don't know what's going to happen in the future, Rey." Despite it going against his better judgment he reached out and pulled her closer in attempts to comfort her. Only a few students actually paid enough attention to sneer at him. "Rest. We have a long flight ahead of us."

"How can I?" She felt too upset and uneasy to fall asleep now.

"Do you want me to help you sleep?" His tone was flat, distant and it disturbed her, but knowing nothing could change that she instead nodded. He brought his hand up and carefully put her to sleep so that she could rest easy. He carefully pulled her closer against him and glanced out the window to distract his troubled thoughts. It would be a long ride.

_**Rey glanced at the memory and was tempted to press into his mind to learn his thoughts at the time and just as she reached deeper she felt his resistance and resulting pain. The answer to her invasion was clear. He wanted her to stay out of his personal thoughts in that moment.** _

_**'don't press too far' He warned and she backed off to return to what came next. She needed her answers first.** _

Rey woke with a jolt as the ship jerked hard and landed with a loud thump. She glanced up at the warmth wrapped around her and was met with an inquisitively raised brow. For just a moment she was afraid that he wouldn't be there.

"What?" It seemed from his voice that whatever was bothering him earlier had faded and he was his usual grumpy self.

"I was afraid... that maybe you would be gone... when I woke up..." She answered, lightly twisting her fingers in the cloth of his robes and he leaned his face in closer to hers and stared at her for the longest time.

"Where did you think I would go? Jump off the ship and suffocate myself in space? No thanks." He sat back and glanced out the window, but there wasn't much to see. It was a white out.

Luke made his way out of the front and regrouped with his students. The door lowered and they were met with a freezing blast of wind and ice, but Luke showed no hesitation and started forward out into the freeze which urged his students to follow along with him.

This planet was a vast difference from the jungle planet with vast waters that Rey had come to know as her home. It was absolutely freezing, but at the same time the soft, white flakes were the most beautiful thing. She took one step off the landing ramp and disappeared down into the white. Ben halted and glanced back, lips twitching just faintly as a faint sound escaped him. He held his breath and barely halted the laughter that wanted to escape him as he started towards the place he last saw Rey and reached his hand down to help her out of the deep snow that went over the short girl's head.

She glanced up at him and grabbed onto his hand and allowed him to pull her out and lift her up onto his shoulders. The snow was much too deep for her to get through. Even the other students struggles to get through, but Ben was taller and he had an easier time for once. She found her knew vantage point to be interesting and tried to take in all the sites she could from up here. Still there was not much to see but white until they arrived at what seemed to be a barrier. A wall.

"Here. I will need your help to get through this wall." Luke began. "You must use The Force. All of us. Together."

For this he had to set Rey down again and he held out a gloved hand towards the wall to link his focus with the others. It was a rare team effort between them and Rey watched as the icy wall started to crack and shatter and revealed an entrance into a deep, vast cave system that ran beneath the surface of the planet. She found it a bit scary. If one went too deep they could become hopelessly lost.

"Piece of cake." Darin boasted.

"Well done." Luke told them all as he headed inside and all the students were stunned at this hidden temple they never could have suspected was here. Tall, carved frozen walls made out of a material that could not be distinguished easily and two statues on either side of the room of Jedi that held their sabers before them in a knightly fashion. Luke came to a halt in the center of the two statues and turned to look at his students. "This will be no easy task."

"We can handle it, Master Luke." Nileeta insisted.

Luke smiled and raised a hand towards the ceiling where a light seemed to emit from some unknown source. He turned a very large reflective mirror which shined directly behind him and melted a large sheet of thick ice behind him. He held a hand out towards the doorway.

"You must descend into the catacombs of the Crystal Caves without me to find your kyber crystal which will become the heart of your lightsaber. A symbol of your position. Once you've earned it."

"But, Master Luke how will we know which is ours?" A student asked.

"You will just know. The crystal will be attuned to you through the Force and will become an extension of your Force awareness." Luke responded.

"Well let's go then!" Another student jumped the gun and Luke held a hand up to halt him from running straight in.

"Ahh. Not so fast. I know you are eager to complete your rite of passage, but you must know something else. You all have a limited period of time for your search... the entrance to the caves will freeze shut with the setting of the planet's sun. If you do not find your crystal before the sun sets... you will be trapped."

Several students gave unsure glances and made a few whispered comments among one another, before Ben stepped forward. Rey gave him a concerned look. She didn't like the thought of him being trapped in there if he didn't make it out in time.

"We had better hurry then."

"May the Force be with you." Luke responded with a half smile as he stepped aside and watched the students head into the caves on their own. Their first steps towards become a Jedi. Finally the Jedi would return. A new age.

"Master Luke... what if they take too long?" Rey questioned as she glanced up at her master, but he merely smiled and took her small hand in his.

"It's alright, Rey. I believe in them."

"What is it like inside?"

"A labyrinth. It's a test of character if you will... tailored to each individuals fears. They must learn to overcome them if they wish to succeed."

"But... what if Ben is too scared and he can't get out?"

"Rey..." Luke took a knee and met the young girls eyes. Though he should not tell her as she would one day have to take this test, he would consider it a lesson instead. "It was a deception meant to further challenge them. The wall is only frozen water. You simply must have the willpower to push on even if it seems impossible. There is always a way out."

**_She recalled the agonizing, seemingly hours of waiting and she was curious of what he had faced inside the caves. What were his deepest fears? She pressed a bit further, felt the tinge of pain as he resisted to a degree and then nothing as he gave in to her power and let her into his journey._ **

The students had come to a series of tunnels and not a single one of them knew which way they should go. The pressure was on as they knew they did not have time to stand here and argue about which way they should go.

"We need to split up." Darin stated, taking charge of the group. Everyone muttered agreement and grabbed a partner. Everyone except Ben. The class numbers had been uneven.

"But... the numbers..." Nileeta said softly as she glanced at Ben. She had always been kind and sympathetic, but... never put those kind qualities into action due to fear of ridicule.

"It's fine. I'm used to being alone." Ben responded, glancing down one tunnel that he was certain he needed to follow. "Just go."

"Ben does it Solo." One of the other students snipped in amusement. He shot a sharp glare at the other that made him shut his mouth immediately.

Without another moment spared to these fools he hurried off down the tunnel and far away from the rest of them. He could do this on his own. He didn't need anyone else. They could all get trapped in here for all he cared. This long path continued for the longest time. It was quiet and lonely, but he had lived through this most of his life. The silent, lonely moments. It was nothing he could not handle.

But then he came to a stop when the tunnel ended and led into a larger area with a gaped bridge. There was something there on the other side, but he wasn't sure how he was going to reach it. That distant glow called to him. Spoke to him. It had to be the crystal he was looking for, but... this bridge of ice was dangerous. One wrong move and he would be sent to the bottom. A fall like that wasn't one he could survive.

What could he do though? Give up and return to Luke a failure? In front of all the others become a failure just as they all expected? Or was he going to make his way across and fall and prove their point that way? It seemed either way he was in trouble.

After weighing his options he took a deep breath and started forward. There was no way he was going to give up. He put one foot in front of the other, carefully. Then again repeated the process, bring his arms out on either side of him to try and balance himself as best he could. It was slippery, dangerous. He could fall at any moment. The ice could give away. He had to force himself not to look down. One more step and he was half way there. But the next step the ice broke beneath his foot and he gasped, flailing his arms as he tried to regain balance.

He inadvertently glanced down and felt a wave of nausea in his stomach as he realize just how far it was and he felt a horrid sense of vertigo. He quickly brought his foot down past the broken piece and onto another to try and spread himself out more. Luckily this piece did not break and he gained a semi-balance. He had just come so close to falling and proving to everyone just what a failure he was. That was something he just couldn't accept. Taking a breath he quickly started forward again and focused on the task ahead of him and then he heard a loud crack and he pushed himself quickly and jumped onto the solid patch of hard ice before him just as the bridge broke behind him and fell into the jagged ice below him.

The pounding in his heart and head grounded him for several long moments before he finally glanced up and took in the sight of a faint flow in the misty stone alter before him. He lifted himself up on shaky arms and back to his feet. With a glance behind him he confirmed he would not be going back that way.

There was a sudden rasp, a hiss that drew his attention. Rhythmic. As if there were some beast lurking in the shadows and breathing deeply. It was all too familiar to him. He narrowed his eyes to try and see, but it proved fruitless and he moved closer towards the stone alter where the glow emitted itself from. The mist swirled around his feet with each step he took and the rasping grew louder the closer he got.

"What are you?" He beseeched the darkness, but there was no answer there for him. Instead he scowled and grabbed reached his hand towards the alter to grab the crystal, but a sudden flash of red startled him and he stumbled back and landed hard into the ground just narrowly avoiding the screeching red saber blade.

A man stood there before him in all black. That man from those nightmares that he awoke from screaming. The rasping hiss drew closer and he quickly scrambled backwards until he reached the edge of the drop off and there was nowhere else to go.

"No! NO! Stay away from me!" He brought up his arm as his only means of defense and used a force push to shove the creature back. It only saved him by a few inches. He quickly rolled to the other side and behind the monster while it was stunned. It turned towards him once it recovered and relentlessly came towards him "What are you!? What do you want from me!?"

"I am you..." A raps and a hiss emitted from the shadow. "I want you to embrace yourself. Embrace me, Ben. I will make it all go away. All your fears and anxieties."

"No..." He shook his head and backed up even more until his back hit the stone alter behind him and he was left with nowhere to go as the black mass closed in on him. He closed his eyes and forced himself to control his breathing and focus. "There is no emotion, there is peace."

"Peace is a lie, there is only passion." The creature contradicted.

"There is no ignorance, there is knowledge."

"Through passion, I gain strength."

"There is no passion, there is serenity." He continued, closing his eyes more tightly to block out the monster before him.

"Through strength, I gain power." The creature insisted.

"There is no chaos, there is harmony."

"Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me." The creature because more insistent as Ben struggled to hold onto the Jedi code.

"There is no death, there is The Force." Ben inhaled and quickly shoved hard with the force and then turned and reached up for the crystal on the alter and snatched it up as he leapt over the other side of the alter and pressed his back it. There was silence on the other side and he carefully glanced over the top of the stone and found there was nothing there.

What was it? A trick of the cave perhaps? Something more sinister? For now it did not matter. It was gone. He glanced down at his hand and opened his palm to look at the crystal that he held. At first it was colorless, but the color slowly started to bleed into it and he tilted his head to the side curiously. He had never quite seen this color before. With one more glance towards where the creature had been he decided he needed to hurry. He could not be trapped in here with that thing.

He hurried off down the path behind the alter to try and relink back to the main pathway so that he could get out of here. It seemed like it took too long and time was going slower than it really was, but finally, finally he recognized the main path and hurried towards it, but something came into his view, slammed hard into his nose and he was stumbling backwards until he slipped over the edge and felt himself falling and land with a hard thud on the cold ground.

It took several moments reeling from the shock to glance up and figure out what had happened. He looked up to find Darin standing there looking down at him with his partner at his side.

"You... dirty womp rat!" Ben shouted, snarling like a wounded beast caught in a snare.

"Sorry, Ben. This is the best for everyone. You're too dangerous to let live. Everyone knows it. Even Master Luke knows it. The class will do better without you. We won't be held back anymore, because Luke has to fear what you will do." Darin stated.

"You can't leave me down here!" He quickly glanced around and found no way out... and that thing. That thing was in here with him. He just knew it. He felt it. It was creeping down his spine. "Get me out! Don't leave me in here with it!"

"We heard you talking to yourself. You've gone mad. Just stay here and rot. Make it easier on that girl too." Darin backed up slowly and disappeared, leaving him completely alone.

"Darin! Darin!" He choked as he felt the dark tendrils wrap around him, cling onto him and crawl over his skin.

"Do you see, Ben? Do you see why you must embrace me? I am the only one who truly wants you. They have abandoned you. Betrayed you. Just as I was abandoned and betrayed by those I loved most." The hissing, rasping voice insisted. "Join me, Ben. Embrace the darkness. It will save you from this pit."

It wasn't long before absolute fear took over and everything faded into a dark and suffocating, inky black.

Outside Luke awaited his students with a frown upon his face. He had sensed a great disturbance in The Force moments ago and now again. The students had mostly returned and when the final two arrived without Ben he narrowed his eyes at them. Those looks on their faces... they were looks of deceit.

"Where is Ben?" He asked sternly. Darin met Luke's eyes with a lie already prepared, but his partner gave him away by casting his eyes down in shame. "What have you done...? What have you done?!"

Every student was shocked by the tone that Luke took as they had never heard their Master raise his voice before. He had always been well mannered and calm, but now he was outraged.

"Master Luke..." Rey grabbed him by the sleeve and pointed towards the door as it froze over solid. Darin had a particular smile on his face as he watched the door freeze over to seal Ben's fate.

Luke did nothing and instead kept his gaze locked upon the icy door that his nephew was sealed behind. The seconds ticked by as all the students watched with nervous eyes. All seemed lost and hopeless. The seconds turned into minutes and Luke prepared himself to go in if he must, but then there was a loud snap. A crack. The ice shattered and a shadow stepped through the foggy, broken ice. Luke let out a sigh of relief and started to approach his nephew and Rey hurried towards him as well, but he sensed something and quickly grabbed Rey and held her at his side.

"Rey." Luke said sternly.

"What...?" Rey was confused as to why Luke had stopped her.

The air was thick with the crackling energy of a Sith. Luke had only ever experienced this once and that was when he faced down the Emperor. He was close enough now to see Ben for what he was in this moment. The darkness inside of him, the darkness that had always been there... the darkness that they had all feared had come out.

It was Ben's eyes that gave him away. That sickly yellow, bordered by red flicked towards him and sent an uneasy chill down Luke's spine. Those were the eyes of a man consumed with hatred and rage. Those were the eyes of a Sith. Ben slowly took one step down the stairs, then another, but uneven as if he were groggy from sleep in the early hours of the morning.

"Ben..." Luke began as calmly as he could, but Ben raised a hand and force pushed Luke back into one of the Jedi statues and then suddenly he reached out with the force and Darin grabbed at his throat, choking and gasping for air.

"Do you feel it? The fear? The terror?" Ben snarled in a deep and low tone, eyes locked on Darin's as he tightened his force hold around the other young man's throat. "It's so powerful... had I only realized it sooner..."

Luke glanced between the two and debated it. How could he save them both? How could he stop this? He realized that he could not save them both and that Ben had already slipped into the darkness. With that thought in mind Luke ignited his saber.

The whoosh of Luke's saber drew Rey's attention and she quickly glanced between the three in the stand off. What was he going to do? He wouldn't... kill Ben would he? But she saw that scary expression in his eyes too. He wasn't acting like Ben. She quickly got in between them before Luke could take action against him.

"Ben!" She slammed into his side and clutched onto his robes and it was like a cord snapped and the force hold on Darin released and the coloring in Ben's eyes faded as he glanced down in surprise.

"Rey?" He didn't recall where he was or how he had even gotten here, but why was everyone staring at him this way and... the wet seeping into his side... Rey was crying? And then his uncle... what was he doing? "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" Luke asked carefully, hitting the kill switch on his saber and putting it away as he took a step closer to inspect his nephew closer.

"Remember what?" Ben asked, but then he came to a conclusion. "You... saw it to? Was it here? That thing in the caves?"

"Thing?"

"Yes... the... shadow... it..." He wasn't sure how to explain and Luke held a hand up.

"A shadow?" Luke was still cautious about his approach. Yes. He had lied to Ben, but he could not tell the truth and he quickly turned back to his students. "That must be it. It was a shadow... wasn't it?"

"Y-yes Master Luke..." One boy said shakily as he eyed Ben in fear.

"I think we should leave here now. We must have a meeting about this when we return. There has been a great disturbance in The Force." Luke stated and hurried his students out of the caves and back onto the ship.

Over the next few days Rey kept her eye on Ben, watched his face and his eyes. She was afraid that the soft hazel may take on that terrible yellow/red color again, but they never did and she knew he was growing more and more frustrated because he was aware that there was something they were not telling him. Even Luke had taken to watching him from a distance from that point on.

Luke had forced the students to swear they would never tell Ben for everyone's well being and Ben was forced to go on wondering how he had gotten out of the caves after becoming trapped in such a place. She wanted to tell him what happened, but if she did she was worried that he might turn into that again.

Through all this Ben did would he could to distract himself from his growing frustrations about his situation and about the expectation heaved upon him. All he could focus on was constructing his saber and he did so with the utmost care. It was crafted from the bottom of his heart. An extension of his soul. The hilt of his saber was finally complete and now he placed the crystal into the center and sealed it up.

Now was the moment of truth. Ben carefully and slowly stood up then held the saber out and hit the activator switch. The second the switch went on the entire saber exploded in a reddish orange, but not the way it was meant to. The power was too much, too overwhelming and the entire blade blew up on him and Ben cried out in pain as he dropped the blade and dropped to his knees to grab his arm.

"Ben!" Luke called out and hurried towards him only to skid to a stop and take his nephew in his arms. "Let me see. Let me see it."

From her position Rey couldn't see the damage done, but she knew that it could be nothing good. She was frozen in place, unable to move as she was too afraid of what she would see if she did get closer. Ben dropped his arm to his side and she watched as Luke reached for it and held it up to inspect it and then Luke gripped a shard of shrapnel that had gone all the way through and pulled it from Ben's hand with a quick jerk.

"I... did it wrong...?" Ben asked softly, the disappointment and defeat was clear in his voice.

"No. Ben. No. You did nothing wrong." Luke assured him and grabbed his face and tilted it up to search for further damage. "Come... you need medical attention. I will have a healer assist you."

"Can I come?!" Rey questioned.

"No, Rey. You must finish your meditation." Luke responded and urged Ben to come along with him, grabbing the charred and broken saber along the way.

Rey pouted with disappointment that she was not allowed to be with him, but she knew that Luke told her that for a good reason. She did her best to focus on her meditation as he'd asked, but her thoughts were being sidetracked and she found that she could not find her peaceful state of mind.

She decided to break the rules and quickly got up and returned to the temple to search for Ben and make sure he was alright. It didn't take long to find out where he was if the loud crashes from his room were any hint. She approached the door and carefully opened it to find his room in disarray. There was not a single thing in his room unturned, except the bed, but only because this was bolted down.

"Ben?" She stayed out of his way as she drew his attention, not because she was afraid, but rather because she wanted to stay out of the way of he lost his temper again and threw something. "Are you okay?"

"NO! Everything I do blows up in my face!" He shouted as he kicked the fallen chair across the room into the wall to effectively destroy the object beyond repair. He buried his face in his hand and dropped down to sit on the bed with a groan of despair. "Everyone expects me to fail."

"Not everyone. I believe in you." Rey said quietly and watched as he slowly lowered his hands and glanced at her. No yellow hatred. Just hazel. He was still Ben.

"You always believe in me... don't you?" He sighed quietly and glanced towards the broken saber among the mess in the room. "You should be meditating. Master Luke insisted."

"I was worried about you."

"Don't be." He patted the spot beside him. "Continue where you left off. I have work to do."

With those words he began to clean up the mess that he had made as she found a comfortable spot on his bed to resume her meditation. It wasn't exactly easy, because every now and then she'd hear a small crash and a muttered curse under his breath, but she was the one that had come here and she would have to focus through it. Still it was worth it to be near him. There was another faint crash and another mumbled curse and she could barely contain her giggles of amusement. Ben wasn't Ben without his hair-trigger temper.

"Ben... were you scared...? When you got trapped with the scary monster?"

"...no.." He answered slowly. "I'm not afraid of anything."

_**Liar.** _

She peeked an eye open and found he'd made some space and was trying to put his saber together again. The hilt was really done in. It was once a fine silver, but now it was a charred black and a few pieces were missing. She was glad that he had not given up and was trying again.

"How will you fix it?"

"I don't know yet..." He pressed his lips together in a thin line and took a moment to consider it. "...if I... could... lessen the pressure..."

He glanced around the room and grabbed his tools and then quickly gathered a few select things and worked quickly to see if this idea was going to work. Rey tilted her head to the side as she watched him break into the sides.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to reroute the excess power so it will be vented out the sides instead of in my face." He made a few more adjustments to it and then made his way over to the door and outside.

Rey jumped up and followed him to see if his idea was going to work. She really hoped that this would work out for him. Ben had already had too many bad things happen to him lately. He needed something good.

"Be careful..."

"Here goes nothing. Stay back." He held the saber out a good distance away from himself and turned his face away as he flipped the activation switch and the orange/red blade screeched to life and moments later the vents hissed as well to successfully balance itself out. He quickly glanced towards the blade and took in the sight. He had finally done it. He had made his own blade. It worked. Though it was not the most elegant blade, with it's unstable, serrated appearance and crossguard-like design it was still his.

"You did it Ben! I knew you could!" She smiled towards him and watched as a weight was lifted off his shoulders now that he had finally taken his final step towards becoming a jedi. Soon he would be able to join the others in the ceremony and it would be official.

"I did it."

There in front of the temple he saw Luke speaking with Lor San Tekka and the both of them were eyeing him from their perch upon the top of the steps where they could oversee all of the training grounds. The both of them were watching him and he expectantly glanced up to Luke with a half smile upon his face. He had finally accomplished his goal. His uncle would finally be proud of him then wouldn't he?

But that smile soon faded as he realized the look on Luke's face was not one of pride. It was one of fear. He lowered the saber and switched it off, expression growing more and more dejected by the minute.

Rey frowned when she realized the hurt Ben had experienced. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair to be afraid of him for something he hadn't done. She knew what they were worried about. She had overheard Lor San Tekka and Luke talking after the incident about the fear of Ben becoming an evil man like the Sith Darth Vader.

She was torn from her thoughts when that troublesome gang of students passed by her. This young man was the one that so often made fun of Ben.  
She did not particularly like him and he showed his disdain for her with a sneer as he shoved her aside out of his way, but he shoved just a bit too hard and Rey lost her balance...

...and she was falling until the rocky wall that boarded the lake slipped out from under her and she hit the water behind her with a loud splash. Rey found that no matter how she tried she could not bring herself back to the surface.

"Rey?!" Ben called out, waiting for her to come back up, but there was nothing and just as Luke burst into a sprint from his high up position Ben dropped everything and dove in after her. Not a second thought. No hesitation.

He reached out through the water and grabbed her by the arm to pull her towards him and back up to the surface for air. There above him Luke had arrived and held his hand out to help his nephew up out of the water with Rey. Luke then removed his cloak and draped it over Rey to dry her off and keep her warm.

"Are you two alright?" Luke asked with concern, but he didn't get very far because the moment Ben knew Rey was safe and he regained his senses he shot a glare at Darin. There was that hatred again. That yellow rage that colored his eyes. That little whisper in the back of his mind that told him to kill this defiant whelp. He ignited his saber with a harsh screech to destroy his enemy. "Ben NO!"

It didn't stop him and Darin stumbled back and quickly reached for his own saber to ignite the green glow just before the crackling red stuck him. The blades crackled as they met and Ben hit hard, relentlessly. Darin was put on the defense rather quickly. Every step Ben took was an attack. His only focus was beating Darin into submission.

Rey glanced up at Luke as he made to step in, but Lor San Tekka held a hand up to stop him. They had to let this play out. There was no stopping it. Not unless one's life hit the point of being in danger. She hoped they knew what they were doing.

"Form five, Luke? He takes after you." San Tekka deducted.

"Me? Or him?" Luke questioned with concern.

"Master Luke..." Rey cut in, clutching Luke's cloak tightly. "Ben isn't bad."

"No. Not inherently, but he has the blood of a Skywalker and as such he is a focal point between light and dark; because of this something is seeking him out. It's here now with us. Do you sense it?" Tekka glanced at Rey as she tried to focus on the force around them. Yes. It was there. Something else was here with them.

"I should stop him." Luke insisted as he saw his student was in a losing battle. Darin could only hold out so long against pure, unbridled rage.

"No. He must be allowed to release it." Tekka quickly held an arm out to stop Luke once more. "If you force him to bottle his rage you will lose him."

"Rage and anger are not the Jedi way."

"Which is why he must deal with it now and learn to put it behind him, Luke. I know what you fear, but do not put that weight upon his shoulders."  
The fight didn't last much longer as Ben's strong and powerful strike knocked Darin's lightsaber from his hands and across the ground, leaving dark burn marks in it's path as it went.

"Enough, Ben!" Luke called out once more, reaching out with the force and halting Ben's saber when it came within inches of his student's face. Ben shot him a rage filled glance, that awful coat of yellow and red still upon them.

Through her years with him Rey had never been afraid of him, but in this moment Rey was terrified of what he was becoming. He was becoming callous, but this monster that was here... he couldn't be this monster. The light was inside of him. She had witnessed it so many times in the small kind acts that he committed when he thought nobody was looking.

When his eyes met hers she found that she didn't recognize him, but when he saw the fear there his expression changed and he glanced from her, to Luke and then to a cowering opponent before him. The color faded and this time he didn't ask what he had done. He already knew. He deactivated the saber and Luke released him from the hold.

"We need to talk... alone." Luke added that final word when he noticed the students had gathered as an audience. It was not something he needed right this moment and so he waved a hand for Ben to follow him and Tekka went along as well leaving Rey by herself.

"He's mad." Darin stated with exasperation while his companions helped him up. "I hope that Master Luke exiles him from the academy."

Rey pressed her lips together in a thin line and quickly ran after them. She knew she would get in trouble if she was caught, but she needed to know if Ben was going to be forced to leave or not. It was a terrifying thought to think he might be exiled and she would never see him again.

She hurried up the steps of the temple and past the entrance doors to where she saw the temple's council room door, half cracked open with a light shinning through it and the occasional pass of a shadow. She moved closer and glanced into the room as discreetly as she could.

"You could have killed your fellow padawan." Luke scolded him.

"And he would have deserved it." Ben snapped back, all that had been bottled up and pent inside of him was spilling out.

"We do not kill our fellow force users, Ben! This has to stop. You two have always had problems. It's my fault. I realize it. Because you are my nephew, but the arguing and the fist fights and now this?" Then Luke pointed to Ben's lightsaber. "Your blade... it reeks of Sith. Do you realize that? You leave me no choice. I must exclude you from becoming a Jedi until you have learned to control yourself."

"Uncle!" The words stung -they hurt- but he defensively put forth anger. "I've done everything you've asked of me! I have been forced to work so much harder because I was your nephew... just so I could pass all of my tests without it seeming as though you've favored me for being family!"

"I know. It isn't fair. But you are learning towards a dark path. Your anger. You must let it go. I know you feel abandoned by your parents. I know you hurt-"

"How would you know!? Your uncle and aunt were there for you until the end! Mother... she's always there... in the senate... and the pathetic excuse for a man you call my father... runs away whenever it gets hard...!" His teeth clicked together hard and his voice broke despite himself. "Uncle... please... this is all I have left... don't take it from me..."

"I'm sorry, Ben." Luke stood up from his sitting position on the floor. "You will be excluded from the ceremony."

A harsh rumble of thunder rolled across the sky and Rey inhaled sharply and Lor San Tekka raised a brow and glanced directly at her, but he did not say a word or give her away. Instead he looked back to Ben.

"You may return with me to Jakku. I could help you to control your tem-" Tekka didn't get a chance to finish as Ben turned abruptly and slammed the doors open to storm out of the room without a moment's hesitation.

Rey gasped and took a step back. The pain and anger rolled off of him in waves. You did not have to be a force user to be able to tell.

"Wait! Ben!" She called out to him and for a moment thought he may not stop, but after a short hesitation he did stop. Though he didn't dare turn and face her.

"If they want to see a monster so badly... I'll show them one..." His tone was so strange. So far away from himself that he easily continued forward without a look back, right out into the storm outside the safety of the temple.

Those words terrified her. Nothing had ever scared her so badly in her life, because she knew exactly what it meant. It meant that she was going to lose him forever and not knowing what else to do she quickly ran back to the council room to find Luke.

"Master Luke! Ben is leaving!" She hurriedly spat the words out and Luke blinked in surprise, but then he felt something. A strong disturbance in The Force. It was stronger then anything he had ever felt before.

"We must find him." Lor San Tekka stated as he forced himself up from his sitting place and to his feet.

"Rey, stay here." Luke told her and both the men rushed from the room to try and stop Ben before it was too late. "We will find him. He could not have gone far."

Once again Rey waited until they left her alone and she made the decision to disobey orders and made off to search for him as well. She could not let him be alone. Not now. He needed her more then he had ever needed her. The storm outside was raging. It was angry. It was dangerous, but she dared to venture out into it despite that.

Luke and San Tekka both boarded a ship for a better view of their surroundings and took off in a rush to search from the air.

But she had a few better ideas of where he might have gone. She knew the places that he would hide when he was hurting. It was hard to see through the rain but she made her way to the training yard. He was not here. She searched near the lake as well, but her search still came up empty. She also went to where their favorite reading spot was underneath the cherry blossom trees, but he was also not here and the blossoms had all been blown away in the wind until not a single one remained. They had all scattered.

Perhaps he wanted to get away from the academy altogether. She could hardly blame him. If that were the case then the forest was all that remained.  
So that was where she set out to search next and before she knew it she had been searching for hours until she was frozen cold down to the very bone from the freezing rain that poured down and blew in to soak her from head to toe.

"Ben!" She called out over the wind and rain in hopes that maybe he would hear her and come back. Rey dropped down beneath a tree and although it was not much cover it would have to do. Where had he gone?

**_This memory only went on. Rey wanted to know more and so she pressed deeper into his mind, away from the memories he took from her. Instead she searched his own memories of that night... and the hurt and pain was overwhelming._ **

He had made his way far from the academy. Deep into the darkness of the forest. There was a voice that called to him... that spoke to him. It drew him in. He had been cast out of the light and so he made the choice to embrace the darkness. It was all that was left for him.

That same shadow from before appeared before his eyes and he halted mid step. This time he wasn't afraid.

"I told you in the caves that he would betray you, but you refused to believe me. You continued to put your faith in your uncle and look where it has gotten you. It is I and I alone that you can trust."

"You were right." Ben admitted dejectedly.

"Of course I was." The shadow slowly made it's way closer and held out his arms to either side of him and several men stepped out. "I knew it would come and so I brought you a gift for when you would join me. Aren't you glad that I have such foresight?"

"What would you have me do?"

"Ben Solo is weak. Kill him." It commanded. "Kill him and those weak fools that tormented you. Take these knights. I prepared them for this moment. For you. To make you a king among men."

"Who... are you?" He asked, taking a step forward and reaching out, but his hand waved through the shadow as if it were a thick fog. "You... are you him? You... you're my grandfather...? This... is it my destiny?"

"This... is your destiny." The shadow responded as it dissipated.

The knights all took a knee before him and bowed their heads. It was a rush of authority and power like none he had ever felt before. These men had been given to him to command and do with as he pleased with complete trust in his ability.

"I won't fail you... grandfather..." One of the knights stepped forward and held out a black, metal helmet and uniform towards him. Ben reached out and took it in his hands. "I'll finish... what you started..."

"We are ready to serve."

"We will not waste time then." He removed his saber from his belt. Kill Ben Solo. It was the command he had been given... and so he did. He ignited his blade, grabbed the braid that signified his position as padawan and with the edge of his saber cut it clean off. The burned hair brought across a smell that was a mock version of burning flesh, unpleasant and sickening.

Without wasting time he draped the cowl over his shoulders and brought the compliant knights along with him into the academy and not a single person suspected a thing. Fools. Luke's presence was nowhere to be found within, but there was one person's presence that was. He stormed forward into the temple and there was Darin with his companions. Those tormenting brats.

"Ben Solo... you've come back?" Darin scoffed.

He merely smirked and ignited the unstable saber and slashed his enemy across the chest, he hadn't even had the time to draw his blade, but now his enemy realized the serious danger he was in. He quickly grabbed his own saber and the two engaged in battle.

Darin's friends grabbed their own blades and made to jump in, but the knights burst in through the doors and the students didn't stand a chance. The slaughter began. Though Darin had been trained by Luke and put up a semi decent fight, he was no match for him and he struck him down with a final blow and warm blood splattered across his face. It was warm, thick and a nauseating smell of copper. Not at all what he ever would have imagined it to be like.

He turned around with a low exhale and cut down one of Darin's comrades as they came towards him with a single blow and more blood hit his face and his humanity slowly became stained with red. Another student dared to try and come at him and he cut them down with just as much ease. They were all so weak. None of these people were more worthy than he was to become a Jedi.

As he passed through the area and stepped over the bodies he caught his own reflection in the mirror. The thought that struck him interrupted his killing spree and he turned around to glance towards the hallway where the living quarters were located.

Rey. She did not need to be a witness to such a horrible scene. With a sleeve he wiped the blood from his face and hurried down the hallway while deactivating his lightsaber. He went straight to her room and slid the door open, but she was not here. The room was empty and a sense of panic spread through him.

"Rey?" It seemed calling her name out was useless. The knights were killing everyone, he realized with dread. He had to find Rey first. Glancing over he spotted the rebel pilot daughter that had come from Rey's parents and he snatched it up. It was not something to be left here.

"Milord." A knight came through the door equally covered in blood. "Shall we raze it?"

"Yes." There was no hesitation in the answer. He wanted to see this place burn. He wanted all of it to go down in flames and seeing as he did not sense Rey here in this building it was safe to do so.

Focusing in on the disrupted force around them he searched for her energy and the moment he locked onto it he hurried out into the pouring rain again to find her and take her where she would be safe away from the horrors she would see here should she choose now to return.

But Rey had not moved from her spot. She stayed where she was, worrying, fearful that Ben was gone for good. She only glanced up with she heard the faint crack of a branch under foot and there she found a shadow before her.

"Ben?" She stood up and made her way closer to his from. "It's too dark. Where are you?"

"Stay there." He insisted, but then he glanced off to the side and Rey could see where he was looking was nothing more than a bright orange glow that showed through the forest and the darkness the storm cast over them.

"But..."

"Rey... stay here..." He turned around then and started to head back. "I'll come back for you. Just... don't leave this spot."

There was more silence after that and Rey awaited another sound from him, but it never came and so once again she found herself not listening and she ran towards the orange glow in the distance in attempts to find him. It was hopelessly dark elsewhere so she could not go any other way but forward.

Once she broke through the forest she let out a startled gasp. The academy was on fire and the smell that came from it was awful. She searched for Ben, but he was no where in sight. Except there was a man that seemed to notice her and he turned towards her as quick as lightning. He raised his weapon towards her and Rey stumbled back. She was defenseless. She had no lightsaber to even try and fight back with.

But a loud screech pierced the air and the man cried out as a red, serrated blade impaled him and he crumbled to the ground in an instant. Rey was startled at the sight of the creature in the mask that stood before her. Why did he have Ben's blade? Had he killed him? She didn't have much time to consider it as the monster reached forward and her consciousness left her.

There were no dreams in this sort of darkness. There was nothing. Not until the light started to come back to her and Rey slowly awoke with the shudder of a ship. For just a moment she thought all of it had been a dream, but then she recognized the familiar arms that held her close as she woke.

"Ben...?" She glanced up at his face and found none of the familiar warmth she was used to, but rather a cold and calculated look... and this shroud of darkness that he wore. This uniform... it seemed similar to those bad guys. But Ben wasn't a bad guy. Maybe he stole it to disguise himself so he could escape?

"Shh. It's alright now."

"Where are we?"

"Somewhere far away."

The ship's doors hissed open and the ramp lowered to expose the interior to the rush of heated air of the outside. His expression was so strange. Something was wrong. She wanted to ask, but for some reason she was unable to. He reached into the uniform and pulled out the doll from her parents and she carefully took it from him.

"You saved him." She said softly, but he still said nothing. "What's wrong, Ben? Is Master Luke, okay?"

"He's alive."

"That's good. We're going to have to fix the academy right?"

"It's time to go." He stated and stood up with her to lift her up to sit on his shoulders where he could carry her out. How many times had he carried her like this for fun? He tried to think back to those happier times, but there was nothing happy or fun about this moment. It seemed she did not quite understand the severity of the situation. She was clueless, but it was for the best.

She giggled quietly and wrapped her arms around his neck to hold on as he made his way down the ramp onto the desert ground.

"You're like a tuantaun, Ben. I can see everything from up here."

"Tch." He scoffed and smiled a humorless smile. "I'm a smelly lizard am I?"

"Yup." She rested her chin upon the top of his head. His footsteps halted and he glanced down at the ground. He was not going to be able to see her again after this. These were his final moments with her. It was not an ideal planet, but it was the safest one he could think of. It seemed his stop startled her. "What's wrong?"

These were his last moments. After this Ben Solo was dead. He would make the most of it. He reached up and held her so she wouldn't fall and took a quick step forward.

"I'm a tuantuan in the desert... that's what's wrong! I'm not meant for the desert." He purposely stumbled around in a half sprint. "Why would you bring a tuantuan into the desert Rey?!"

"Ben!" Her laughter drew the attention of a few market dwellers in the distance, but otherwise they went on about their business and did not focus on the going ons in the junkyard. "I didn't bring you here!"

"Nuuuhh. I'm a tuantaun I can't fly a shuttle. Are you crazy?" He slowed down as he got closer to the market place and there was a fat grub looking man waiting there. That must be the man he spoke with. "Rey... you have to stay here."

"What? Why do I have to stay here?" She asked suddenly. "What about you?"

He reached up and brought her down from his shoulders to set her down on the ground where he kneeled in front of her.

"You won't remember me." He responded and reached up to brush some of her hair back behind her ear. "You won't remember anything."

"What?" Now Rey was becoming concerned. "Is this about that bad guy? But you and Luke and the others beat them all up right?!"

"No..." With his hand still near her temple he focused the force there. "I love you very much, Rey. That's why I want to give you a chance to live. Happy. It's better this way."

"No! Don't!" Rey protested, but it was too late. She already felt her memories being taken away and tears sprung to her eyes. Everything disappeared.

Her memories were all rerouted, blocked and replaced by something else. The academy, the students, Luke... and Ben... replaced by two smiling parents promising they would come back for her and all that she had to do was stay here. And that was that. With a quivering chin he quickly stood up and headed back towards the ship, faintly hearing her cries for him to come back. That fat grub holding her and telling her to be quiet, but he didn't dare look back. He couldn't. He would risk her life if he did.

He did not dare turn back to risk breaking his resolve to leave her where she was safe. What was left of his heart was shattered and he brought his sleeve up to wipe the water that brimmed over and spilled from his eyes. No. He put it all away as he boarded the ship and the door closed and sealed with a resounding hiss.

Rey gasped loudly, took a large step back and she was falling... falling out of this place, tumbling back through the shards of memories, tumbling and falling back out of the past and back into the present. _**And. She. Knew. Everything**_.

* * *

 


	4. Temptation

The gathering of her memories had taken a lot out of the both of them. At first she couldn't believe any of it. She didn't want to believe any of it, but the truth of it was undeniable. And once she realized it... once she processed it... took it all in... she was furious when she realized just what he had done. They had so much and he ruined it all, but in the end everything that he had done had only served to hurt him the most. Though she considered destroying him here and now... she also realized that there was no need to punish him. He was already suffering for it.

"You had no right." She breathed with an underlying fury. Though she might have known him all those years ago she didn't recognize this person before her now.

"I only gave you what you asked for." He lifted his head and met her eyes for as long as he could stand it, before the shame from her accusing glare turned him away more effectively than words ever could.

"And it's only confused me more not less!" Though all this anger was on the surface she felt that she was torn because underneath all of it he was still Ben. He was still that person she had grown up with and there was that little part of her that wanted to hold him again, but he was her enemy now. "You left me in that place... I could have just as easily died there."

"But you are alive. I am willing to commit evil if it means bringing down a worse evil in the process-"

"The ends justify the means?" Rey could hardly believe the way that he was looking at things. How could he have become so blinded?

"A victory achieved through immoral means is not a victory at all."

"Look at all the chaos around us. The murders. The violence. The corrupt politics. The wars. The galaxy needs order!"

"This isn't order it's fear!"

"What would you have us do?! If they do not fear us there will be lawlessness. Lawlessness will lead to even more chaos. The ends... do justify the means."

"You're wrong!"

"Enough of this! Listen to me! Snoke would have you destroyed if you go against us. Join me instead. Be by my side. Your power could help bring Order to the galaxy. We could end the chaos once and for all." His voice took on a pleading tone. "I could be your teacher and together we could-"

"Rule the galaxy?" Luke's voice cut in through their argument and Ben shot him a sharp glare at daring to interrupt and try to foil his plans. "I'm familiar with the speech."

"Luke..." Rey met his eyes and took in his face for the first time since she recovered her memories.

"Do you remember, Rey?" He asked and as she nodded and smiled sadly. "I'm sorry. I failed you both, but now we must not dwell on the past at this moment. We need to leave immediately. Please go inform Chewie to get the Falcon ready for take off."

She glanced between the two for a moment, but she was happy for the distance she would be able to put between the two of them. She needed time to think. She glanced over her shoulder as she left to notice that Luke had tossed some robes into Ben's lap with an expression that clearly said 'we can do this the easy way or the hard way'.

The Falcon was there waiting for her still and Chewie had not come out so that must mean that the big guy was asleep or resting. He was having a hard time after what happened with Han. She did not blame him if he wanted nothing more then to sleep for a few days to recover and mourn. She made her way up the ramp and glanced around inside.

Artoo made a faint beep to acknowledge her presence and she offered the droid a weary smile in response.

"Chewie?" The Wookie appeared from behind a corner with a low roar of acknowledgement to her calls. "Luke said to fire up the Falcon. We need to leave. The First Order knows we're here and they'll be coming soon."

Chewie made another sound and headed straight to the pilot's seat to get things sorted so that they could leave without any trouble and Rey decided to head back and make sure that Luke was alright. After all Ben was there enemy and he was unpredictably dangerous. With that thought in mind she hurried straight to the hut, but when she arrived she found they were both fine and that Ben was successfully redressed in a Jedi's robes. He looked... more like Ben. Had Luke done that on purpose?

"I will return you to your mother. You will be her responsibility." Luke paused to inform before he went back to gathering some of his things though he did not have much there were some halotapes he still absolutely needed.

"You mean to say I'll be her prisoner." Ben scowled in irritation.

"Yes." It seemed Luke was not holding back, but his tone never took on even the faintest hints of anger or outrage towards him even after everything he had done.

"Aren't you angry?" Rey asked softly and both of them glanced over at her.

"No. As a Jedi I understand that when you are angry you begin to hate. When you hate something you want to make it weaker than you or even destroy it. This hate leads to suffering." Luke then paused and cast a glance over his shoulder. "Isn't that right, Ben?"

"The Jedi are weak." Ben stated as his boot scuffed along the ground while he jerked hard at the ropes that kept his wrists tied together. A fruitless attempt at escape. "They are easily slaughtered like cattle. They didn't stand a chance against me. It is clear that the dark side is stronger. It always has been and it always will be... and she will join me once she realizes you can do nothing for her."

"Enough, Ben!" Luke responded with exasperation, then suddenly there was a loud boom and the next thing she knew the entire shelter was coming down around them, crumbling into a thick dust that stung her eyes and burned her lungs.

"Luke...?" She called through the haze, waiting for some more dust to settle to try and see that had just become of the shelter. It was mostly gone. Suddenly a beam moved aside and Luke dragged himself from the rubble, having used The Force in the last seconds to keep the weight of the hut from crushing them.

"They've come! Get to the Falcon!" Without wasting a second he tossed Ben's lightsaber to her and shoved aside some more rubble as well as a few heavy beams to search for Ben. Luke would not leave without him.

Rey glanced at the heavy weapon in her hands and then back towards Luke. She couldn't leave them. She clipped the saber to her belt and hurried over the rubble to aid Luke. She knew that Ben wasn't dead or too seriously hurt or she would have felt it. Then Luke reached down to grab something and he pulled hard with all his strength to help Ben out of the rubble.

" _Idiots_..." He snapped under his breath, referring to his own men that would dare to hit a building that he was inside. Were his own men trying to kill him?

Luke shoved him hard and he was inclined to comply for the sake of his own life. Another rocket came down, but this one was lucky enough to miss entirely. This entire island was going to go under if they kept this up.

"Go, Rey! Quickly!" Luke insisted as even more rockets hit, leaving Rey reeling with a flash back to Jakku. The First Order really was dangerous with all this fire power. There was dirt flying, dust, rocks and little bits of shrapnel flying through the air making it difficult to navigate back to the Falcon, but they somehow managed and the second they were on the ramp Chewie made lift off.

The moment they had moved the spot the Falcon had been docked was hit and obliterated entirely, falling into the raging water below. Luke shoved Ben hard into the seat in the main hold and rushed to the cockpit to help Chewie safely pilot them out of this mess. The First Order ships were locking onto their position to give chase.

Artoo let out a loud screeching beep as the ship jolted and quickly rolled across the room to find a safe spot to avoid being damaged by the heavy box that slid into the wall.

Rey grabbed onto the wall as the ship jerked hard suddenly to avoid being hit. This was going to be a rough ride. She wished she could do more to help. In that moment she got an odd feeling and glanced towards Ben to notice his eyes were on his lightsaber at her hip. But he wouldn't be that stupid to pull something right now would he?

She made to press into his mind to search for his plans, but before she even got past his walls he slipped his wrists from the ropes, having torn skin open he used his own blood as a sort of lubrication and he was up and making a bum rush towards her. She quickly rose her hands to fend him off and the ship lurched again and they both hit the ceiling before coming down hard on the floor.

He _was_ that stupid.

"Give it to me!" He shouted and reached for his saber, but she grabbed it and held it out away from him before he could mange to get his hands on it.

"No! Get off me!"

"Give it and I will!"

She struggled to keep it away from him with all her might and though she may be stronger then him in regards to the force he certainly did have mass on his side. She found herself completely covered by him and he grabbed her hands to try and pry his weapon from them, but she decided to use the only weapon she had left in return. She sank her teeth into his forearm and he yelped loudly and uttered curses under his breath.

"Luke! Help!" With no other option she had to hope that Luke would come to the rescue, because she was in a stalemate with him.

"Give it to me!"

Another turn of the ship rolled them both into the wall with a dull thunk, but he was still reaching for his saber, trying his best to get it from her hands. She wouldn't give it up and it seemed to become a pointless battle. It was going nowhere. He couldn't manage to get his saber from her hands and she couldn't manage to get him off her.

"Luke!" She tried again to request aid, but the ship jolted and rolled and there they were both sliding across the floor again to the opposite side of the room and things were falling off shelves, tumbling down onto them. Something particularly heavy struck him in the back of the head and she winced as she felt his pain, but she was also aware that his strength was fading. He couldn't keep this up much longer.

The Falcon evened out and the rush of footsteps brought both of their attention up towards the doorway. Luke came to a sudden halt and stared at them with a grey brow rose significantly above the other. Here they were, Rey with her arms stretched out far above her head trying to keep the lightsaber from his reach and Ben over her and trying to reach said saber. It was something he would expect from two children, not two adults.

Luke quickly stepped forward and snatched up the dark saber to end this tug of war battle once and for all. It left Rey with her hands free enough to shove him off of her and scrambled out from underneath of him and Ben knew he lost this round.

"You must learn to behave yourself or I will be forced to use a much more harsh form of confinement." Luke threatened as returned the saber to Rey once more. Despite his bloodied and torn wrists Luke had to tie them together again, because he could not trust Ben to not make another attempt. "Please sit down and don't struggle too much. You will only make it worse on yourself."

"Us." Rey corrected.

"The both of you. I will return shortly. We are to meet Leia on Jakku." The moment Luke said it he sensed an odd sensation through the force. As if a voice somewhere cried out, but Luke shrugged this off and returned to the cockpit to aid Chewie.

The silence after was deafening and Ben winced a little as he shifted and pulled at the tightened ropes. He knew he should not have given himself away so soon. It would have been best had he waited and ambushed them later, but he blew his chance because he was so impatient.

"Stop. I feel that too." Rey glanced down for a moment as she felt the ever raging storm of emotions that lingered within him. He wanted the pain. He needed it. It was startling to her that someone could want to cause harm to themselves. She knew she had to be careful. Like walking on thin ice... if she did not move cautiously she was going to slip and fall under. "Do you hate yourself that much?"

"Is that not something we have in common? I'm the monster you despise." In his answer there was a tinge of rage, but at the same time the underlying sadness of a distant memory... of someone else.

"Kylo Ren is a monster, but Ben Solo was my best friend."

"Don't..." His tone bordered on pleading and her words made his chest ache in particular way he hadn't felt in a long time. "...you hate me."

"I can't. I've decided to forgive you." She had already watched what hate had done to him and she knew she could not put herself on that path. She had to let go of the anger that she did have. She had to forgive him. Not for him, but rather for herself. If she didn't forgive him then she would begin to hate and she knew exactly where that led.

He didn't need to ask why. He read her every thought.

"Stop!" He snapped as he tugged at the ropes that bound his wrists and met her eyes with a harsh glare that said to back off, but much as he tried to put on a front she knew what was going on inside. He was conflicted... and it was not because of her. She was not the cause, but she was a part of it. "Don't... act as if you're some holy Jedi Knight and preach to me!"

She decided it was best to back of from him for now, because she was pressing a nerve and he was reacting badly to it. He was their prisoner. There would be plenty of time to try and delve further into the darkness to see if she could find any traces of Ben Solo left behind.

Luke returned a short time later, pleased to find that this time Ben had not made a single attempt to escape. He set a small thermos in front of him, but this did not draw Ben's attention. He was lost in his own mind... and perhaps someone else was in there with him to remind him of his place.

"Ben you should eat something. You don't look well." He insisted, but still there was no response. Luke sighed softly. "At least rest. We have a long flight ahead of us."

It seemed he had been listening as he stood without a word and made his way down the corridor to the crew quarters. She almost forgot. This was his father's ship and he knew every inch of it, inside and out.

"Should we trust him to do as you've asked?" Rey questioned and Luke raised a brow.

"You would know better than I." Luke folded his hands together within his sleeves and glanced towards the corridor where Ben disappeared to.

"Luke... will I have to kill him?" That was the question that had been digging at her the most and he was the only one that would know the answer.

"Yes."

"Is there no other way?"

Luke sighed and slowly sat down, giving a glance to the chessboard in front of him. How long had it been since he had been here? How long had it been since he had been in her very position? It seemed so long ago and yet at the same time it seemed as if it were only yesterday.

"Perhaps." He set his gloved hand upon the chessboard. "I have many things to tell him, but I do not know if he will listen... so I hesitate. Will it push him further over the edge or give him a fighting chance?"

"You're afraid you'll make another mistake." She acknowledged and in that moment she truly realized that each and every one of them had something they were afraid of.

"Gather your strength for now. You will need it once we arrive. You have a most difficult path ahead of you." Luke stood and made his way to back to the cockpit, trusting that Rey would handle things back here.

Rey was aware of how tired she was, but she was also aware these feelings were not her own. It was Ben that was exhausted. He had not spent nearly enough time recovering. It filtered down to her. She would have to find a way to stop this sooner or late. For now she leaned against the couch and felt the darkness of sleep overtake her.

* * *

 

_"And this here, kiddo is the hyperdrive system. Over there are the sublight engines." The voice of Han Solo was measured and confident as he pointed to a large piece of machinery before them._

_"It's so cool, dad." Ben glanced up at his father with a smile and Han ruffled his boy's hair with a grin. "I'll be a smuggler like you one day, right?"_

_"Well... I don't know about that." Han crouched next to him. "Your mother would have my head."_

_"But... I want to go on adventures with you and uncle Chewie."_

_Speaking of the devil the Wookie made his way through the doors with a huge crate over his shoulders with a gurgle of sound that Ben only partially understood._

_"Looks like it's time to go, kid." Han took his hand and led him down the ramp back to the landing pad where C-3PO awaited them._

_"Dad... I thought you were going to play with me today..."_

_"Not now, Ben. I've got to go to work. Some other time though, alright?" Han waved to him as he stepped onto The Falcon and Ben watched from C-3PO's side as his father disappeared into the ship and took off on another job._

* * *

 

Rey jolted awake with a gasp from the dream. It was not hers. That memory did not belong to her. She reached a hand up to her cheek and wiped away the bit of moister that had escaped her eyes from the emotions the dream put her through. It ached. He ached. He regretted. She slowly forced herself onto her feet and then down the corridor to the crew's quarters where she had last saw Ben stalk off to. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn't Luke to be fastening the ropes that bound him in preparation to hand him off to Leia.

"Ah, Rey." Luke acknowledged her presence without having to look up. "We're here. We will be meeting with Leia to place Ben into her custody."

"I slept that long?" She asked in surprise and Luke nodded.

"Yes. You both did." He tugged the hood up over Ben's head to conceal his face and glanced over at her to toss her a set of robes as well. "We run a risk of being spotted by First Order spies. I ask that you please wear these and keep your hood up at all times."

Rey took a moment to look down at the clothing for several long moments. It had been a long, long time since she had held robes like this. Luke gave Ben a light push and led him out of the room to give her privacy to change.

"Is this a part of your plan, uncle?" Ben asked, glancing over his shoulder at the bearded man that urged him forward. "Try to make us feel like your padawans again?"

"A plan? Oh. Don't tell me. Does it make you feel that way?" Luke prodded and Ben clenched his jaw tightly in irritation. That sneaky old man.

They waited there silently and he heard Chewie in the cockpit requesting Luke and Rey be careful and that he would take care of the Falcon while they were gone, but the Wookie had not stepped foot outside the cockpit entire time he had been on the ship. It was very telling.

"It seems Chewie holds no desires to see me off." His tone was flat. It was hard to tell if he was remorseful or smug.

"I think that is for the best. If he were to stand face to face with you I am afraid he might rip a limb or two off. Ah!" Luke held a finger up as if a sudden thought hit him. "Actually you might like that. You did want to become more like your grandfather after all."

Ben shot his uncle a glare. "If I could strangle you, old man..."

The bickering did not last much longer as Rey made her way towards them from the crew quarters. Ben glanced towards her and anything else he might have said was lost on him, he tilted his head faintly to the side as he took in her appearance. It brought a particularly sort of melancholy to him and a little bit of something else that scared him even more.

"I believe it is time to begin our journey." Luke stated and pressed the switch to lower the ramp. The desert heat hit them so suddenly it was almost overwhelming for the two older men, but for Rey it was almost a refreshing taste of home.

"Here of all places?" Ben commented in a tone laced with irritation. He didn't say it out loud, but she heard his thoughts. There were New Order spies here.

"There are spies here?" Rey voiced his silent thoughts and he tensed considerably and turned to shoot a harsh glare at her for daring to do such a thing.

"I was well aware." Luke waved it off. "I chose here because it would be the last place The First Order would expect us to exchange a prisoner. Right under their nose."

 _'Not if I can warn them first'_ Ben thought, but the thought was pointless because Rey immediately knew it. It seemed he realized this because once again he turned to look at her and search her face, but any concern he might have had was covered with a slow, smug smirk.

"Let us see if your gamble pays off, uncle."

 _'I won't let you.'_ She left that thought open to him purposely and though he said nothing she could see out of the corner of his eye how his smirk widened. He liked the challenged that she presented him.

They passed through the gate into the outpost and Rey was suddenly glad for the change in clothing as she did not want anyone here to be able to recognize her. She pulled the hood up over her head even further and kept pace with them. Then Luke halted when he noticed the board in the center of the outpost.

"Oh. The First Order does work quickly doesn't it?" Luke backed up a few paces to get a better look at it, prompting both Rey and Ben to also glance at the board.

"Wanted posters?" Rey glanced at them and recognized all three of their faces and then her eyes lowered to the amount they were wanted for and she almost choked.

"Only a million?" Ben scoffed. "I'm worth more than that."

"Do you know how much a million could buy in rations!?" Rey was astonished that he could scoff at such a large bounty. "And do you know how many bounty hunters come into Niima Outpost looking for runaways?"

"We needn't worry about a few bounty hunters." Luke responded. Again he brushed off the danger. She never would have guessed Luke to be so fearless. She supposed he had to be after all he had faced. He was made of tougher stuff than this generation. "But perhaps it is best for the two of you to wait on The Falcon."

"Oh no..." Rey suddenly remembered that they had flown in on The Falcon. There was no way that Unkar Plutt was not going to notice that. "We need to leave. If Unkar Plutt finds that we flew 'his' ship in... there's going to be trouble."

"I can handle that as well, Rey." Luke promised. "You two return to The Falcon where your faces cannot be seen and I will locate our friends."

"Your friends." Ben stated and then he turned back towards the ship and Rey kept an eye on him. No. It wasn't that easy. He was plotting something and he was keeping it from her somehow.

Rey hurried after him to watch and make sure he wasn't planning on making any suspicious moves to try and escape. As they got closer a voice halted them.

"That's my ship!" The familiar voice of Unkar Plutt cut the air and she froze. Great.

"Your ship? This ship belonged to my father." Ben asked as he slowly turned to face the fat slug that dared to challenged him.

"Not any more boy. That is mine. You'll hand it over." Unkar Plutt demanded and Ben merely smiled though there was no real humor in it.

"What are you afraid of most? Let's see shall we?"

Rey glanced between the two and watched as Unkar Plutt suddenly gasped, taking a step back until he was frozen in place and unable to move. The look of absolute horror and fear overtook his face.

"No... no!" Unkar Plutt cried out and Rey quickly grabbed onto Ben's shoulder and turned him to face her.

"Stop!"

"Stop?" He questioned. "Why should I not pay him back for all the cruel things he has done to you? I saw it all in your head."

"Because that's not the Jedi way. It's wrong to use fear." Rey quickly turned to him. "You're not afraid. Your fears are melting away. From now on you'll recognize that ship does not belong to you..."

"I am not afraid. I recognize the ship belongs to you." Unkar Plutt repeated in a trance like tone.

"Tch." Ben scoffed and glanced away from the two of them.

"And you will treat the scavengers with more respect from now on! You may return to your work." Rey added suddenly.

"And I will treat the scavengers with more respect from now on." He repeated once more as he turned around and returned back to his duties.

"You could have shredded him from the inside out. You could have made his worst nightmares a reality. You could have had him at your feet, licking your boots."

"That would have been wrong."

"And what dictates what is wrong and what is right? The Jedi code?" Ben questioned her, stepping closer and she was glad that his hands were bound behind his back underneath his cloak or she would have felt threatened.

"Our hearts. If yours wasn't a giant block of ice perhaps you would realize."

"You think it's ice?" He took another step closer and this time she felt a need for concern, but that didn't mean she would back down and just let him intimidate her.

"That's what happens when you abandon yourself to the darkness. Your heart becomes frozen. You can't feel a thing anymore can you?" Rey pressed her lips together in a thin line as she tried to read him. It was blank. Why? What was he doing right now? "If it were to melt... how badly would it hurt?"

It was when he didn't answer she knew something was wrong and she set her hand near her hip in preparation for him to make a move.

"Don't." His eyes flicked off to the side and she followed his gaze to find two men beneath the shade of a tent watching them both. Their rugged faces were revealed with their helmets at their sides and they were armed to the teeth. They were both waiting for something it seemed and then she noticed another group of them in similar silvery armor making their way towards those two. The next thing she knew Ben was right up in front of her, only a breath away. "Give me my lightsaber."

"Not a chance."

"Rey!" He hissed, trying not to raise his voice and draw any more attention. "Do you want to die? I said give it here."

"And I said no."

He quickly glanced over as he noticed the two men getting up and meeting with their partners and he sighed deeply, trying to not lose his temper with her, but he was very close to that very thing.

"At the very least untie me."

"Do I look as if I'm that thick? You'll use it against me later if not now." Rey gave those men another look and noticed they were coming towards them. This was not good. Where was Luke?

"Had I wanted to kill you I'd have shoved you over that cliff and been done with it. Untie me and give me back my lightsaber."

"Just... just run!" Rey insisted and having no other choice both broke into a sprint and sure enough the men shouted something in a foreign language at them and put themselves right on their trail.

She did not want to fight here and now or shed blood so she had to run. Luckily for her she knew this place like the back of her hand and she knew exactly where to go to. She made a run right for the cantina, because the bounty hunters would not be able to find them in such a crowd. There were too many shady characters in there that liked to conceal their faces as well.

Ben kicked over a bucket holding up a fruit stand and it crashed down to stop their pursuers in their tracks, forcing them to go around and effectively slowing them down, but earning the scolding of the stand's owner. He had no idea where they were going, but he knew that he had to keep up. He couldn't be caught bound like this. He needed his lightsaber from her.

They turned a corner and barely avoided a run in with a few other people that looked at them as if they were insane.

Rey rushed the doors of the cantina and turned to grab Ben by the front of the robes and pull him inside with her, through the crowds, but he was so tall. She really cursed him for being tall at a time like this. There was no way they wouldn't be caught. She had overlooked that detail.

Her eyes scanned the entire area and she made a last minute decision to run towards the back and pulled the door open to a supply closet. Shoving him inside the small and confined space she quickly stepped and slammed the door shut in hopes that they had been fast enough to give them the slip... and that they were too stupid to think to check here if they had noticed them come inside the cantina.

They waited for the longest time and when all was still silent she let out a breath of relief that they had managed to give them the slip for now. Never in a million years had she imagined herself in this position and... she had to stop and laugh a little bit. At first he looked at her as if he were insane, but then he gave a short bout of laughter as well. It was that little thing that made her glance up at his face and really take in his appearance in this small and confined space.

"Are you still in there, Ben?" She asked and reached up to push his hood back and take in more of his face. She needed him to answer, needed something of who he was to still be there. "You're still there... right?"

His eyes searched hers for a long moment and they softened ever so slightly, but just enough for her to notice the difference. She pulled her own hood down and leaned back against the door to put a little space between them. It was not much at all. Though his expression changed he hadn't answered yet and she assumed that he wouldn't.

"I'm still here." Finally he answered her leaning closer to her again until they were left with the same lack of space they had a moment ago. "What did you mean... that our hearts know? You mean to say you aren't quoting the Jedi code?"

"Deep down... we all know what's wrong and what's right. I know that you still feel it. You have to. There's still something good in you." She acknowledged the tendrils of light that shined through the darkness like sunlight between the branches of a thick, dark forest.

"I can't live by the Jedi code, Rey." Though he didn't have his hands free he was still able to trap her between him and the door with his body and he did so effectively. "And I don't think that you can either."

"What do you mean by that?" She tried not to look at him when she realized how close he was. When she was younger she had a young girl's crush on him. It was innocent, but now she was a grown woman and a woman's crush was much different. She couldn't feel that for him, couldn't let herself feel that for him. It had to stay in the past.

"You feel too much. We both feel too much." He searched her face again and he seemed to pick up on her thoughts. "And you... you like me too much."

"I... no... I'm not a little girl anymore... it's not like that now."

"No... you're not..." His eyes flicked down for a moment and he leaned his face closer to hers and he watched as she swallowed with some difficulty. He felt conflicted about his own feelings. She was too young for him. He shouldn't even be so close to her, but he couldn't help himself and it was not as if he was a Jedi. Those rules did not apply to him anymore.

"You could still become a Jedi... you could still come back."

"No. I could hardly live without passion." He leaned in even closer until his warm breath was in her ear and she winced as she became more aware of her own breathing increasing. "Could you? Could you become a Jedi? Could you stand it living without passion? Would you... live a life of celibacy and become like Luke? Pathetic and all alone on an island?"

"It's admirable." She blurted out and practically felt the way one side of his mouth quirked up in amusement.

"Admirable, but not for you. Not for me." He shifted his arms behind his back, it was a shame he didn't have them free. "The Jedi are wrong. Just look in the history books. Look how many times they have failed. Look how many times they have fallen to the Sith. Over and over. It goes on and on, but now there is a chance for balance... ...untie me."

It took a moment for her to register those words and that's when she realized what he was doing and shoved him back as hard as she could, sending him back into the wall behind him with a dull thud.

"You... you were only saying all that to-"

"No." He cut her off.

"You used my feelings for your own agenda!"

"NO! I'm being honest! You know it to be true. Your path is not that of a Jedi. Your path is with me. I want you with me."

"I will never join you. I've seen what the dark side does first hand." Without a second thought she shoved the door open, pulled her hood back up and stepped out, leaving him shocked that she had so easily walked away from him.

"Rey..." He hurried out after her. There was a tinge of hope when she turned to him and reached up, but he realized she was only pulling his hood back up to conceal his face and then she turned and continued on her path out the back door. "Don't you feel it? Don't you feel what I feel?"

"Stop talking to me."

"Is it so bad? The thought of joining me?" He asked. "You hate me that much?"

"Yes!" She turned on him. "I did hate you for it. I did. I hated you so much, but now the more I see you... the more I feel sorry for you because of what the hate did to you. Ben Solo was strong. But Kylo Ren... he's pathetic and cowardly. The dark side hasn't made you stronger. It's only made you weaker. When I look at you all I keep seeing how pathetic you've become."

He stopped in his tracks and watched her as she continued to work. Those words struck a painful cord within his chest and he dropped to his knees, letting out a breath as if he had been stricken.

When she heard the sound of him dropping she halted and then turned around once more to face him. "I _loved_ you."

"But not any more...?" He lifted his eyes to meet hers and only found tears there. It broke what little heart he had left.

"No. Not any more. How could I ever love a monster like Kylo Ren?" She turned her back on him again. "I don't care anymore! Just go back! Go back to Snoke! Keep on being Kylo Ren... when the final fight comes... I'll be ready to kill you."

"Rey!" He called out desperately, but this time she didn't stop and he lowered his head, gasping for breath. He was pathetic? That was all she saw when she looked at him? Was he really so pitiful? A hand settled upon his shoulder and he glanced up to see Luke standing before him.

"Ben... it's time to come home. Your mother is waiting." Luke told him, lifting him up to his feet and leading him back to the ship. Ben was sluggish and slow in his movements and Luke had to continually stop and wait for him. "Is it painful?"

"I've no desire to hear your equivocal lectures."

"I wasn't giving one." Luke pointed to Ben's side. "You've reopened your wound."

Instead of answering him Ben trudged on and past his uncle. He found he could care less about that. The more it hurt the better. Luke let out a sigh as he watched his nephew. It was a well deserved suffering to say the least, but... it was still difficult for him as his uncle to watch none-the-less.

* * *

 

Rey barely had time to recover her composure as she approached the ship and that was when someone slowly stepped down the ramp and everything changed. Her face lit up and she rushed up the ramp to leap into the arms of the familiar face.

"Poe!"

"Rey, it's so good to see you." Poe's cheerful voice was refreshing to her. "Leia is here. She's waiting for the prisoner exchange. I knew you could do it."

"I... Luke caught him." While she blushed a bit at Poe's praise she could not take the credit, but then Rey took a moment to realize she had let him escape moments ago and her stomach twisted into a knot. This did not last long as she turned to find Luke approaching with their prisoner.

"Is Finn alright?" She took her chance to ask and Poe smiled and nodded vigorously.

"He's on a recon mission right now."

"Rey." Leia's voice came from the ship as she slowly descended the ramp as well, holding something of Han's in her hands. A set of pilot's gloves. It was a reminder of that person that was gone now. A precious memory known only to Leia. "Luke..."

"Leia. It's been too long." Luke replied.

She stepped the rest of the way down and embraced her brother, a mixture of remorse and relief. Leia released Luke from the hug and then she gave a brief glance towards her son, but she found she could not look at him for long and she turned her gaze away. It did not go unnoticed to Ben that his mother could not bare to look at him.

"We will take him from here. Poe... would you please take him to our shuttle?" Leia requested and turned back to their ship while Poe stepped down to guide their prisoner aboard.

The two exchanged a charged look. Poe and Ben had a past after all. Their last meeting had been less than pleasant. Neither Luke nor Rey said a word as they watched him go. And he looked so betrayed that they were truly going to hand him over to the rebels like this, she felt it. His hurt and his pain, but she couldn't face him any more than Leia could.

Soon enough as a programmed defensive measure his anger sparked. That hurt and pain boiled over into a rage and there she detected his thoughts, she knew what he would do before he did it.

"Poe!" She called out in fear, but it was too late, Ben had already headbutted him and kicked his legs out from under him to break into a run, ducking past the ships and disappearing in the vast junkyard of dead ships.  
  


* * *

 


	5. The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "How to make a monster: First you must take something innocent, then feed it hate, ridicule and betrayal. All that is left is a soul poisoned by the world." - Unknown

 

* * *

  
  
"Ben!" Luke called out, trying to spot him among the various wrecked ships in the junkyard before he quickly hurried into the maze of scrap. "If we don't stop him now we will have to kill him in the future!"  
  
Rey winced at Luke's words, but she knew it was true. If he got away now he would return to Snoke and she would be forced to end his life in battle. She quickly made her way to Poe to help him up.  
  
"Poe are you alright?"  
  
"That guy has always had a hard head." Poe groaned and held his now bleeding nose with one hand while searching the sand for his blaster with the other. He finally gathered it up and the two of them joined Luke in the chase. "We have to find him."  
  
"I know."  
  
This search was similar to attempting to find a grain of rice in a sand dune. Nearly impossible. There was so much junk piled up and the skeletons of old ships long past their prime. Surely some things she had scavenged personally had ended up here as well. Years worth of nothing but junk... because of him.  
  
In this large junkyard that had been piling up for years and years Rey knew it was going to be impossible without help and so she stopped to let Poe go on ahead as it would be much safer for him and decided to focus on his presence within The Force. It did not take long to lock onto him. His presence in The Force was like a raging wild fire in the dead of night. Impossible to miss.  
  
 _'You...'_ his displeased voice spat out through the bond similar to how one might spit a curse word.  
  
 _'Give yourself up.'_ She demanded and eyed the shattered ship before her, knowing before he did it that he would round the corner. He did so, ducking beneath a low hanging antenna that had been bent out of shape from a long ago battle to avoid the long way around.  
  
"I had thought that you despised having a force bond with me, yet... here you are using it at your convenience. If I were to use it in that manner... you'd call me a monster."  
  
"I'm not playing a game with you." She placed her hand upon the lightsaber at her side, prepared to ignite it if he were to attempt anything at all.  
  
"You requested that I return to Supreme Commander Snoke... I was only doing as you had asked." He took one step closer, testing the waters... testing how far he could go... how far she would let him get.  
  
"Stop." Rey knew it was all just another one of his games and she could not allow him to push her boundaries. She needed to set them here and now and let him know that there was no crossing them without severe consequences.  
  
With another step forward she ignited the ligthsaber and it halted him altogether, made him stop to search her face for how serious she was about this and when he saw that there was not a single trace of uncertainty in her stance he knew that he had to take this line she had drawn in the sand seriously. He was still at a disadvantage with his hands bound and no lightsaber of his own.  
  
"You've said that you won't come with me... but you won't let me go either? You can't have both."  
  
"I'm not asking for both. I would just rather not have to kill you."  
  
"Do you think you can?"  
  
"I..." For a moment Rey hesitated as she thought about who he had been once and that did not make it easy. "I can kill Kylo Ren. So who are you...?"  
  
Instead of answering he lowered his gaze to the ground and considered his options, but came to the conclusion that he did not have many and any plots that he might think up would be immediately foiled because she was much stronger than he when it came to The Force. It irritated him beyond belief and he gritted his teeth. How could this be possible? He was supposed to be stronger, not weaker and yet here he was under her boot like a pathetic bug about to be crushed.  
  
Any further conflict was interrupted by a short and deep rumble, a growl of sorts. Both glanced up towards a tall junk pile to see a large creature atop it that was suddenly flanked by two more on either side. They were tall with reddish orange scales for defense, large dark eyes to spot prey and long, sharp claws to rip and shred.  
  
"Akk dogs? Bounty hunters here on Jakku are persistent." He straightened up and took a step back, but did not dare to turn his back on the creatures.  
  
"Akk dogs?" Rey brought her lightsaber in front of her and face the Akk dogs to prepare to defend herself. She wasn't familiar with this sort of creature.  
  
"Your lightsaber will have a difficult time. They've very thick hides." Again he took another step back and she shot a glance at him. Was he going to leave her here with them to save his own skin? "Untie me..."  
  
"No." She answered and he growled in irritation.  
  
The creatures stared them down for the longest amount of time, before their heads shifted as if someone had said something and that was when they jumped down and made a sudden charge at them. They were fast and Rey barely had time to roll to the side and avoid being crushed between a ship hull and the Akk dog's bulky body.  
  
"REY!" He snapped again, barely avoiding the snapping jaws that came towards him. She brought her saber down in a sharp swing, slicing the creature's back, but he had been right. Their scales were thick even for a lightsaber. The Akk dog retaliated and let out a mighty roar of anger and snapped rows of sharp teeth towards her, catching just the edge of her cloak.  
  
With that edge of fabric in it's mouth it jerked hard and Rey found herself flung hard into the ground. A large, clawed paw rose into the air prepared to strike, but just before it could Ben stepped forward and kicked the Akk dog as hard as possibly directly in the joint of it's jaw. It stunned the creature, just long enough for her to jerk the cloak from it's teeth and roll out from under it.  
  
The moment it recovered it rammed it's head into Ben and knocked him into the wing of a ship, his back hitting hard enough to resound off the ship. The other two were circling and awaiting their chance to step in, waiting for a back to be turned. She put herself in between the Akk dogs and Ben in a weak attempt of keeping them both alive.  
  
"We're going to die!" He tugged hard at the ropes, trying to break or wriggle free of them, but Luke had seen to it that it was impossible. "For the-... just... untie me!"  
  
"No!" She brought a hand up and took a deep breath, trying to focus on The Force. It was her only chance now. The larger creature lifted it's head, almost curiously and then it flew back several feet into a pile of scrap. The other two glanced back at their alpha as it burst out of the scrap, now even more angry then it had been and then they turned their attention back on their prey.  
  
"Rey!" His voice came, more desperate now. This was not the way he wanted to go out. Being torn apart by an Akk dog would surely prove to be a slow and painful death.  
  
Rey weighed those options. He was going to die if he couldn't fight. And she was going to die if she tried to take these monsters on her own. She clenched her fists around the lightsaber and without another option she used another Force Push, stronger than the last before quickly turning to Ben and reaching behind him to cut the ropes with her saber.  
  
It happened so fast she wasn't sure what to think, one moment he was taking advantage of his freedom and grabbing his own lightsaber that she had at her side and then the next he was pulling own a huge pile of scrap with the force. It came down with a startlingly loud rumble that would attract the attention of the entire outpost.  
  
Rey glanced up through the thick dust that crash of rubble had caused and for a moment there was nothing, but then suddenly one Akk dog was dragging itself from the rubble and coming straight towards her. A hand shoved her forward, urging her to get moving and Ben broke out into a sprint in front of her. It was clear he wasn't staying to be eaten.  
  
There was only one clear choice and that was to go along with Ben, because staying here with those things was going to get them both killed. He cleared the junkyard after a few cut corners and she realized that he was still plotting to get away. Both from her and the Akk dogs.  
  
"Where are you going!? You can't just run off into the the desert!"  
  
"If you'd like to stay back there to be eaten then be my guest!" He retorted, still keeping up his pace and shooting a brief glance back. It was still behind him and it's companions were recovering and not too far behind that.  
  
A ship flew overhead and the slowed down ahead of them. It was the Falcon, making to land right in front of them. It cut off his escape route and he came to a sudden halt and glanced back at the Akk dogs that were gaining. Two possibilities, take his chance with the dogs and possibly be ripped apart or be taken prisoner again.  
  
"What are you doing?!" Rey skidded to a stop, very nearly slamming right into his back due to how suddenly he stopped. She shoved him forward as hard as she possibly could to try and get him moving again as the ramp lowered and Luke stepped forward, waving them over.  
  
"Hurry!" Luke's voice was urgent, enough to catch both their attention. Something was clearly wrong and with a muttered curse under his breath he   
stepped up onto the ramp and boarded the ship even though he knew exactly what it entailed.  
  
"What's happened?" Rey asked as the ramp closed behind them and the Akk dogs were left in the dust.  
  
"I-" Luke didn't even have the time to explain when something slammed into the ship, a loud bang and the ship was spinning out of control, a loud beeping alarm going off to signify that they had been hit and they were going down. "Hold on!"  
  
In the cockpit Chewie tried his best to get out of the spin, to regain control over the ship, but even the best pilot could not shake this one. The ground came closer and closer until finally the ship crash landed directly into a sand dune and all systems went black.  
  


* * *

  
  
With a groan Rey jolted into consciousness, wondering just how long she had been out. It must not have been long. Minutes maybe. The red emergency lights were the only source of illumination and it cast an eerie look on the inside of the ship. She very slowly got up and then wince at the pain she felt, like her skull had been split open, a horrible ache. Rey reached her hand up and lightly touched a spot on her forehead to come back with a thick, irony liquid coating her fingertips.  
  
There was a loud groaning from the ramp and she realized that someone was trying to get inside the ship forcibly. It must be the bounty hunters. She quickly reached for the lightsaber at her side only to realize she had lost it in the crash. She frantically looked around the messy ship and tried to locate it. It would be impossible! No. The Force. She could use The Force to locate it.  
  
Not easy. Artoo was beeping up a storm because he was trapped under a bunch of crates and he could not free himself.  
  
There was a loud crash and she glanced over to find Luke shoving a heavy crate off himself and noticed that Ben was there beside him and his hands were unbound because of her... he had his lightsaber because of her... and Luke's life was in danger now because of her.  
  
Whatever she had expected did not come. He did not ignite his saber and he made no move to strike at Luke as he attempted to recover from the crash, but there was that voice again. That little whisper inside of his head. It was the same one she had heard on Star Killer. The one that insisted she kill Kylo Ren.  
  
"Who is that?" Rey asked and his eyes shot over to hers suddenly. His surprise was evident, but at the same time he was angry.  
  
"What happened to staying out of each others heads?" Ben's grip on his saber tightened as he barely contained the rage he felt.  
  
"I... it wasn't on purpose!"  
  
"I don't... care!" He snapped and glanced back towards Luke. "Why?"  
  
"Why what, Ben?" Luke questioned, shifting uncomfortably.  
  
"Why did you protect me?!"  
  
Rey glanced between the two of them in confusion, she wasn't sure what had happened, but then she realized that Luke was hurt when he did not stand up.  
  
"I protected you both." Luke's tone was laced with pain as he grimaced when he attempted to move.  
  
"You should have used The Force to protect yourself! Not us! I could have protected myself just fine!" Ben's tone was one of outrage. A mixture of pain and anger. Anger because Luke protected him... and guilt. A deep seated guilt that after all of it Luke had still protected him and become hurt in the process.  
  
"Had I not used The Force we would all be dead. Is that what you would have preferred?"  
  
The doors burst open suddenly and two of the bounty hunters from earlier were making their move. Persistent. Luke could do nothing as his injury prevented movement, but they did not make it far as a roar echoed throughout the ship and Chewie raised his blaster and made short work of the two bounty hunters. The third that was outside fled.  
  
"He can't get away!" Ben quickly took a leap over a heavy crate and went after the last man, but more because someone needed to bear the brunt end of his temper than anything else.  
  
"Ben! Leave it!" Luke tried, but he shook his head as he knew it was hopeless. "Ben!"  
  
"I'll get him." Rey responded and just as she made her way off the ramp she noticed the ship taking off. The bounty hunter had escaped and Ben let out a string of foreign curses.  
  
Rey sighed. She may as well let him have his tantrum if he would settle down after. Taking a glance at the Falcon she realized just how close it was to the edge of the cliff... if it had gone over... the Falcon would have become another scrap giant in this desert.  
  
It seemed that Ben was still throwing his cursing fit, but didn't last long as something large and heavy slammed into him from the side, a blur it moved so fast, then she realized it was the Akk dog. It had caught up with them and it was angry.  
  
It was going to rip him to shreds. For just a moment... just a moment she considered allowing the beast to rip him apart and then all her problems would be solved right? The Force bond would be gone. Her enemy would be gone. But that was wrong. She would not become like them.  
  
She raised a hand and force shoved the creature, weakly, but she managed. It unfortunately only served to anger the creature and it turned on her, charging her. She ignited her saber and swung just as it got close. This caused the creature to cry out, but it still struck her full force and she skidded backwards and before she was able to stop herself she slipped over the edge.  
  
It was her luck that she was an expert climber as she barely managed to catch herself on the edge, but the beast was still hurt and angry. It was going to kill her. There was no doubt. It wasn't the creature that leaned over the edge to finish her off. It was Ben, but he grabbed her by the wrist and was about to pull her up when he halted.  
  
There. He realized it. He could let her drop. Escape from here. Escape from being their prisoner and he was left with the same decision she was left with. She narrowed her eyes at him. Was he really going to do it? His expression changed and he glanced over the edge behind her and then he glanced behind him. He did this several times before his expression turned panicked and he glanced back behind him before he let go of her hand and let her fall.  
  
Her back hit the ground with a hard thud and Rey clenched her fists and curled into herself. It had not been as far a drop as she suspected, but it was painful none the less and he had dropped her!  
  
"That's what I get for..." A pause as she gritted her teeth against the wave of pain. "letting you go!? I untied you and you let me go? You backstabbing... just wait until I get my hands on you!"  
  
Her rant didn't last long as he came skidding over the edge and hit the ground right next to her and she felt her pain all over again... and along with realization that he had not dropped her because he intended to abandon her, but rather... he decided not to pull her up because the Akk dog behind him would have ripped them both to shreds.  
  
"Move... move." He grunted out and struggled to get to his feet, because the Akk dogs above them were starting to make their way down.  
  
"There is nowhere to move to." Rey responded and he glanced up to find that they really were trapped down here with their back to a wall and the only way out had been blocked by the very beasts hunting them down.  
  
"Don't turn your back on them." Ben slowly stood up to his full height and ignited his saber, pressing his back against hers.  
  
It was a last ditched effort. The creatures were slowly approaching and getting closer. Rey was sure that they were going to die down here like this. Suddenly the Akk dogs glanced around as if they heard something and then they slowly backed up, backed down and turned away from them.  
  
"You still have much to learn!" Luke's voice called out to them from above and they both shot a glance up to find him standing near the edge... or... more of leaning against Chewie to stand.  
  
"How did you do it?" Rey asked in awe. It amazed her that The Force could do so many things and even avoid bloodshed to a certain extent.  
  
"I merely used The Force to calm their minds. In time I will teach you this trick." Luke responded before turning to Chewie. "Help them up... I must rest..."  
  
Chewie disappeared with Luke to help him back aboard while he gathered a rope and Rey let out a sigh of relief. If she had to die that was not the way she wanted to go.  
  
He turned around... as if he were about to say something, but Chewie's roar interrupted whatever it might have been as the Wookie tossed a rope down to them to aid them in their return to the top. It did not take too long and as Rey reached the top she glance back at Chewie and noticed the terrible stand off between him and Ben.  
  
There were bad feelings between them, but at the same time... just as it was with the rest of them there were the underlying feelings of betrayal. They had all known him. Once a long time ago and then he had made such a mess out of everything.  
  
Even Artoo -who had been freed from his predicament- gave a weary and disappointed beep at Ben and then turned to roll away. Even the droid was ashamed of him.  
  
"The ship is damage." Luke cut in from his sitting place upon the ramp.  
  
"What about Leia?" Rey asked, surely she would come and get them.  
  
"No. When we realized the situation I sent her for reinforcements. Being that... it seems we will not be going anywhere until we can repair the sublight engines."  
  
"Then... you can't stop me from walking out of here." Ben stated and Chewie tensed up, ready to do whatever he needed.  
  
"No. I suppose I can't." Luke nodded as if he accepted it and Rey tilted her head to the side on confusion. Luke was just going to let him leave? Let him go back to The First Order? "but where will you go, Ben? I'm injured... Rey is untrained.. and those Mandalorians will return..."  
  
That halted Ben's retreat and he slowly clenched a fist. "Mandalorians are here...?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"...It doesn't matter... grandfather... I have to finish what he started-"  
  
"And what did he start, Ben!?" Luke raised his voice. "Your grandfather forsook the Dark Side for the love of his son and that was the end of it!"  
  
"He spoke to me! He told me what I must do!" Ben turned around, voice just a bit higher, as if he could win the argument just by being louder.  
  
"He NEVER spoke to you! Your grandfather is rolling in his grave as he watches you make his same mistakes. Snoke tricked you. That voice in your head... was never your grandfather... it was always Snoke... he pretended to be Darth Vader for you. To give you a sense of purpose... and you fell right into his hands."  
  
"LIAR!" Even as he screamed out the accusation, Ben clenched his fists tighter and then glanced down. He knew that out of all the things Luke was... he was not a liar. "No... no... no..."  
  
"He's using you... and when he has what he wants... he will dispose of you." Luke inhaled deeply and clenched a fist over his knee. "The choice is yours. Walk away now and abandon it all again, but this will be your last chance. There is no third. This is your second. What will you do with it?"  
  
"Luke is right." Rey spoke up. "That voice in your head... that was Snoke... right...? On Star Killer... I heard him. He told me to give into my anger and to kill you. He is going to dispose of you... even if you don't believe Luke... you know that I can't lie to you any more than you can lie to me."  
  
"I'm hurt, Ben." Luke began again. "I can't protect Rey. I can't teach her. You know the Mandalorians will come and if they discover Rey... you know what will happen. She needs a teacher to stand a chance... but here I am... old and feeble."  
  
"Who are the Mandalorians?" Rey asked and Luke sighed.  
  
"Jedi hunters." Ben muttered under his breath in answer. It was the simple answer at least, but Rey felt that he knew more than he was saying and she would press for the information if Luke wasn't about to hand it over.  
  
"I cannot hide it from you. Rey... you know that your grandfather was Obi Wan, but you do not know who your grandmother was." Luke glanced down almost unsure with how to proceed. "I was left with your grandfather's journals and I learned a great deal about the Kenobi line. I learned who your grandmother was."  
  
"Who was she...?"  
  
"During the years of the Clone Wars Obi Wan was in love with Satine Kryze. The Duchess of Mandalore."  
  
"And this... woman... she's my grandmother...?"  
  
"No." Luke waved a hand. "Her sister, Bo-Katan Kryze is your grandmother. You see... Satine Kryze was killed as a form of revenge by Darth Maul who was your grandfather's arch nemesis. After losing such an important person... Obi Wan and Bo-Katan Kryze took comfort in one another one night... and had your mother shortly after. Obi Wan did not know about her unfortunately. Bo-Katan kept it from him. I only learned of her, because your mother herself approached me with her story."  
  
"My mother... what was she like?"  
  
"Your mother... was an amazing woman. Your father was as well, but your mother was... Force Sensitive and after the Duchess of Mandalore was murdered by Darth Maul... the Mandalorians declared war upon all Force Users for the unfortunate situation they had forced upon them. They became Jedi hunters in the past years. They also decided that your mother was an abomination... that you... were an abomination."  
  
"Are they the ones that... killed them?"  
  
"Yes. Your mother and father left you at the academy under my protection while they were hunting remnants of the Empire, but their squadron -Rogue Squadron- was ambushed by Mandalorians and they were killed. It was a hit and run... and it was my fault, Rey. I sent them on that mission. I can only ask that you forgive me for not having been more concerned about the Mandalore threat."  
  
Rey bit her lip and glanced towards the bodies of the men near the ship. These were bodies of the people responsible for the death of her parents? She slowly lowered herself into a crouch and held her head. It was beginning to hurt badly. There was suddenly so much pressure she almost collapsed. Too much. This was all too much.  
  
"It isn't your fault." Rey said quietly, voice strained to a degree from the sudden pain. Still she wanted Luke to know that she did not blame him. How could she blame him? "I'm sure... they died doing what they believed in... I know they did... fighting an evil like The First Order... there's no more a noble way to go."  
  
It was a personal strike, Ben thought. She had purposely made to lash out against what he had served. It scraped against the bottom of his heart in a particular way and caused an indescribable discomfort. She blamed him to a degree for joining what her parents died fighting. He could hear the silent accusation of 'how could you?'.  
  
"You are in danger here now. We must repair the ship and get you to safety with the rebels until you are skilled enough in The Force to be able to combat the Mandalorians." Luke stated.  
  
"I can hold my own if I need to." Rey answered confidently. "And I have some spare parts that I scavenged during my time here... the AT-AT where they're stored isn't far from here. If I could get them we could leave without taking the risk of returning to the outpost."  
  
"Is that so?" He smiled faintly, impressed that Rey had come so far. He was proud of her. "But you still have much to learn. I will teach you when I have healed properly... it is a shame that you will be at a disadvantage with the Mandalorians because of me..."  
  
"I'll do it." Ben spoke up suddenly. As if he had been waiting for the opportunity like a dog waiting for a bone. "I'll teach her..."  
  
"Teach her what? How to be a Sith? She's better off at the disadvantage." Luke scoffed at him and Ben puffed up defensively.  
  
"No. I'll... I'll teach her what you taught me... as a padawan..."  
  
"Can you?"  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"One. One chance, Ben."  
  
"You're going to let him teach me?" Rey asked, scowling as if she thought it was a terrible idea. She did in fact. It was a terrible, terrible idea.  
  
"I am, because there is no other way." Luke answered. "I trust you'll avoid any Sith learnings."

"We're not-... Snoke... isn't even a Sith." Ben grumbled.  
  
"Oh, is that what he tells you?"  
  
Rey sighed and glanced between the two of them. This was growing tiring, but she was sure that Luke didn't like to listen to the two of them bicker any more than she liked to listen to the two of them.  
  
"I'm going to get some things together and get those parts." Rey told them and stepped up the ramp into the Falcon. There were emergency kits near the escape pods and she decided that would be enough to make the journey.  
  
"I'm coming with you."  
  
She glanced over her shoulder at Ben and shook her head. "I don't need you to baby sit me as if I'm a child. I can get the parts on my own."  
  
"I know how powerful you are." The last thing he wanted was for her to think he doubted her strength. "I know it first hand, but the Mandalorians are dangerous and you cannot deflect a slugthrower like you could a blaster bolt."  
  
"A slugthrower?"  
  
"A Jedi killer." He nodded, having no other explanation other than that it worked well against Jedi and Sith.  
  
"It takes one to know one I suppose." She remembered hearing the words Jedi killer uttered among people at the resistance base, but she regretted it nearly as soon as she said it because it seemed to push him back a step further.  
  
She grabbed the pack and lifted it over her shoulder to brush past him and hurry out of the ship to start on her journey. Despite her words she detected his presence behind her and was aware that he was following her. The journey through the hot sun and sand went on for some time, silent all the way. Not even a thought.  
  
Nearly there. They were nearly there, but that was when she glanced up and noticed the horizon. It was growing dark. She had lived on Jakku long enough to know exactly what it was that was coming.  
  
"We need to hurry." Rey insisted and picked up her pace into a near sprint and he didn't hesitate to follow. It wasn't something he wanted to get caught up in either. The race was on to beat the sandstorm to the AT-AT and if they were caught in it then they risked everything. She could see it in the distance just as she could see the lightning flash within the sandstorm.  
  
It was getting closer, she could feel the heated wind at her skin and she felt her heart speed up as she raced to try and make it in time. Just as the sandstorm started to hit and she felt the scrape on her skin of rough, course sand she was at the door to her former home and making her way inside. She only turned back to grab Ben by the cloak and drag him inside.  
  
It did not take long for the sandstorm to darken the skies, darker and darker until it was pitch black and dark as night itself. She reached into the pack she brought along and searched for the light. It was a bit difficult to locate in the dark, but she eventually managed and a light yellow illuminated their surroundings.  
  
She was frustrated, because for this to happen now of all times...? It was as if The Force had something against her lately. He shifted in the darkness with a sigh and glanced outside, furrowing his brow. No. This couldn't last too long right?  
  
"How much longer will this last?"  
  
"At best?" Rey asked. "A day... maybe two... at worst... five days."  
  
"Five days?" He shook his head. This was unbelievable. "Of all the places we could be stuck it had to be here in this old war relic on some backwater world."  
  
"You're the last person I want to be stuck with too. Believe me."  
  
There was a loud thunk as something slammed into the AT-AT and despite how old it was the great beast held up with only a faint groan of protest. It had been through many sandstorms and it was not about to fail now. The storm continued on and on and they were both left in silent contemplation.  
Eventually he grew bored with sitting where he was and he got up to explore the ruins to state a curiosity he'd always had. What was it like living here for her? It was livable, but it was hardly anything to brag about... then again he supposed one could brag about being able to survive in this piece of rotting durasteel.  
  
"Such a lonely existence..." He said softly, almost low enough that she didn't hear. But she was not sure if he meant her loneliness or his own. It was quite likely both. He continued to explore and halted when he saw his own reflection in a broken mirror, finding his face in two halves. One side of the mirror smudged with a dark tint and the other clear. He took a moment to take it all in before he returned to the light in the center to sit across from her once more.  
  
Reaching down he rubbed at his wrists slowly, trying to soothe the ache. He'd gotten sand into his wounds and it was extraordinarily irritating. Rey glanced at him and recalled a similar pain. Out here sand got into everything. Especially wounds. There was no escaping it. He looked absolutely miserable.  
  
But why wouldn't he be?  
  
His world had just been turned upside down after all and he had learned that everything he had done had been based on a lie. It was a sweet justice for what he'd done to her. He deserved it right? He had taken her memories. He killed his own father. For that he did not deserve anything from her.  
She knew that she should not comfort him. Knew that she should let him suffer alone, but... against her better judgement she moved closer to him and grabbed his forearm. She would share in his pain so it was beneficial for her if she took care of it now.  
  
"Let me see..."  
  
"Leave it." He insisted.  
  
"You might appreciate the pain, but I don't." Rey responded as she tugged his glove off and turned his wrist towards the light.  
  
"You can learn to block it out." His gaze lowered to follow her hands as she poured some water onto a cloth and then lightly dabbed at the torn flesh carefully. It was a minor pain compared to what he was used to. "You're too sympathetic."  
  
"For a Sith?" She asked, pressing just a bit harder to prove a point.  
  
"For a Jedi." He corrected and she lifted her gaze to meet his. "You're too emotional. If you want to become one... you have to learn to control yourself."  
  
"Speak for yourself." She pressed her lips together in a thin line and pulled his other glove off to clean the other side. Getting the sand out of a wet wound wasn't easy.  
  
"I never became a Jedi. How can I?"  
  
"You're a Sith. Right."  
  
"No." He didn't want to be called that. It wasn't quite right. Snoke was something else entirely. Though what that was he was not sure. He had thought whatever it was would bring balance to The Force and end the chaos, but now he wasn't so sure.  
  
He snatched the cloth from her with one hand and with the other he grabbed her by the chin and tilted her head up.  
  
"What are you-"  
  
"It works both ways." His words were nearly as whisper as he raised a brow and glanced at the dried blood near her temple. She had almost forgotten about that, but he must have been plagued with her headache as well.  
  
Her wound was more concerning than his own as it was a head wound, but he did not voice it. Didn't need to. As lightly as he could he dabbed at the spot with the cloth and Rey thought... that the touch was so gentle that he could not possibly be a Sith. No Sith could ever be as gentle as that. They were the real monsters as they had no kindness to give.  
  
Then she realized with a sense of dread that this was a glimpse of Ben Solo. Or what was left. What he hadn't managed to kill. What Snoke hadn't managed to kill. In a moment of weakness she thought that... this time she wanted to protect this warmth. His eyes shifted to meet hers briefly.  
  
A loud thunk of something above that struck their shelter brought her back to reality. None of that was possible. She brushed his hand away and stood up to make her way across to the other side where she had slept so many nights. There was nothing else that they could do until the storm passed and she decided that rest would make the journey back easier.  
  
All she had intended was to get some rest, but she suddenly found herself right back where she started. Here in this old AT-AT she called home, listening to the violent sandstorm outside, over thinking because of how quiet it was and ultimately unable to sleep. She turned over in her bed and bit her lip. She closed her eyes and tried to picture the ocean. It had been something that had calmed her before she hoped it would now.  
  
But...  
  
There was one big difference. She was not completely alone and left to her thoughts. This time she had company. She turned over and glanced at him and found that he was still sitting there in the same place he had been before, knees pulled up to his chest while he was lost somewhere deep in his own thoughts.   
  
He looked like a lost child. He may be much older than she was, but only in body. He was still just a child. He had never really grown up.  
  
"It gets cold at night in the desert." She broke the silence and his only reaction was to raise a brow, but he did not move nor look at her. "I have extra blankets for the colder nights... you should take one."  
  
Despite her words he did not make a single move to come and get a blanket. He merely stayed where he was, motionless and deadpan.  
  
Rey huffed and turned over again, facing away from him to try and get some sleep. She hoped that the sandstorm was going to let up soon. The less time she had to spend trapped in here with him the better.


	6. Sandstorm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “The power of a glance has been so much abused in love stories, that it has come to be disbelieved in. Few people dare now to say that two beings have fallen in love because they have looked at each other. Yet it is in this way that love begins, and in this way only.”   
>  ―Victor Hugo

The sandstorm continued on just as predicted and persisted on into the next day. The howling and screeching winds were occasionally joined by loud bangs against the durasteel of the rotting giant as various objects were swept up in the high speed winds and thrown about like nothing. They were nothing in the face of this powerful storm.

Furious, raging, unpredictable. Similar to The Force. Similar to him.

He had not slept. It was obvious from the way his eyes darkened, but that was his loss. When the storm ended he would just have to march out exhausted. She could normally feel his emotions, but now it was a blank slate. He had shut down to a great degree... or he had learned to shut her out. If she were to push she could get in, but she did not want to be like Kylo Ren and force her way into someone's personal thoughts.

"How long?" He asked, lips curling up on one side. A perfect picture of a snarling wolf. He was so impatient and agitated.

"I already told you. It could last for days." Rey responded carefully, waiting for him to explode and break something.

"Then-..." Taking a deep breath he forced himself to calm down. He knew losing his temper with her would not benefit him. "You should meditate on The Force in that case."

"I don't want to learn from you." Rey insisted.

"Fine! Be that way!" He growled in irritation and crossed his arms over his chest as he turned his back on her.

Rey groaned and pressed a hand over her eyes. He was such a child. Had he really thought she was going to learn anything from him and risk exposing herself to the darkside? The darkside was a terrible thing and she wanted nothing to do with it. She wondered why he insisted so much on teaching her. What was it he wanted her to learn so badly? How to be evil like him so he wouldn't have to be alone?

That was part of it. He just didn't want to be alone anymore.

These thoughts were cut short by bigger concerns once the lantern went out it was was pitch black inside their shelter.

"Not now..." She whispered quietly and carefully inched towards where the lantern had been, but the darkness made it difficult. She had no idea where she was going.

"He had a bad habit of not replacing the power cells." He stated in the darkness and then she heard the shift of fabric as he moved and she wasn't sure if she should begin to worry. "Hand it here."

"You said the power cell is dead... if you're right there is no fixing it." Rey finally got her hands on it and tapped the side several times, hoping to get something out of it. Being stuck in the dark would make this stay much more unpleasant than it needed to be.

"No. Hand it here." He repeated, growing impatient.

"Fine." She tossed it towards his voice, partially hoping that it would hit him in the head and maybe knock a little sense into him. From the sound, or lack there of... there was no such luck. The Force was on his side after all. "What do you plan to-"

She was cut off at the sudden blue spark of light, once, twice, a third time and then the light returned leaving her to eye him wearily.

"There."

"How did you do that?"

"You said you didn't want to learn from me." When he didn't answer the way she wanted she searched his mind and watched him scowl in response as he felt her pressing around his thoughts. Persistent.

"Force Lightning? That really would have been useful in the past." Rey sighed as she thought about all the times she'd needed the extra jolt of power but never had it. "But it's forbidden for the Jedi."

"You have feelings for me." He stated very matter-of-factly and Rey glared at him as if he had insulted her somehow. He had in a way. How dare he use something like that to try and justify using the dark side of The Force. "This is also forbidden for a Jedi... and yet... you-"

"It isn't my fault that you dug into my mind!" Rey defended. "Of all people why was it us to form a bond like this?"

"Because you are not a Jedi... not yet... Jedi do not form such connections because of their discipline, but you had no such training... you were not guarded against it and ultimately because The Force is never wrong. This... what's between us. It's the will of The Force."

A moment of silence passed and he tilted his head to the side in a way that reminded her of a puppy expecting a treat. Was he still really waiting for her to give in and ask him to be her teacher? But then these skills could be very useful. This one in particular. She thought perhaps he was right to a degree. There was a darkness in her that had allowed Snoke into her mind to tempt her to kill him on Starkiller, but she had not given into it. So long as she did not give into darkness it was fine wasn't it?

"Fine... teach me then."

"Don't tell Luke..."

Rey scoffed at his words. "As if you're afraid of Luke."

"No. But he will make sure I never teach you again." As he said this he made his way over to her, but he didn't stay within her line of sight. Instead he made his way behind her and set a hand over hers.

"The only one who gets to decide who teaches me anything is me so I'd suggest you don't push your luck." She decided to give him a warning, because she was unsure of his true intentions.

"I've finally gained the chance to teach you something what makes you think I would jump to ruin it?" His hand closed over hers and exhaled slowly. "You're so tense. Relax."

"I'm training to become a Jedi... you're the Jedi Killer... relaxing under these circumstances is hardly easy."

"I'm not going to kill you, Rey." He relaxed himself to try and rid her of her tension. "The Force is everywhere. The electricity... it's already there. In the air. All around. You just have to gather it."

"Maybe this isn't a good idea... it's evil." She felt a little sensation deep in her stomach that she couldn't describe and wondered if this meant that she shouldn't be doing this.

There was a moment of silence before he countered her argument.

"No. None of the powers granted by the Force are inherently good or evil."

Rey took a breath and tried to force herself to remain calm as difficult as that might be. She closed her eyes and searched thoroughly, catching his burning presence and the static in the air. There was so much life in The Force. It was everywhere. Overwhelmingly so. She could feel it just as he had said and she gathered it at her fingertips, but only a small spark appeared. It seemed... lacking.

"That's force lightning?"

"Mm. It's a facsimile." He took a step back from her. "The Jedi believe it is a manifestation of your anger and your hatred twisting the Force into an expression of your emotions and that those that use it reject compassion."

"Is it?"

"Did you use it in anger or hatred?"

She frowned faintly and glanced down for a moment to consider his words. The more time she spent with him the more difficult it became to hate him as a monster, because he knew exactly how to explain himself, but she thought that perhaps this was just another trick of a Sith and he was trying to get her onto his side.

"Is this a trick to turn me to the dark side?" She brought her gaze back up and met his eyes so that she could try and gauge if he was lying to her considering he was keeping her firmly locked out of his mind.

"That doesn't benefit me in any way. I want you to join me by your own choice. Not based off of a deception." That was much more than what he had been given. All his life he was feed lies and deceptions and he had no intention of doing the same to her.

This was where their conversation ended. She had nothing else to respond with. This situation. Him. It was just too complicated. The rest of the time went by in the same silence until she grew weary and decided it was time to rest. There was nothing else to do other than rest up for the journey back when the storm died down.  
  


* * *

  
Rey jolted awake at a sudden searing pain deep within in her side and quickly opened her eyes, expecting to find Kylo Ren there above her with his saber through her side, but he was not there and she was alone. She carefully glanced up towards the far end of the AT-AT and found him sitting there in front of the mirror with the light on and the top of his robes shed.

It was hard to tell exactly what he was up to but she didn't trust him, not until she felt that pain again and watched as he doubled over and slammed a hand down into the sand. She felt it all at once. How very tired he was. The burn of his fever. The ache of his wound. It seemed that he had been been hiding it from her all this time. Within his mind that was now unguarded from exhaustion everything was exposed. He had been using the Force to suppress his fever. He had not defeated it. She should have suspected that no one, not even Kylo Ren could defeat a fever in a day.

He was stronger than she gave him credit for. Strong enough to take that slash to the face, the one that trailed down his neck from his collarbone and then down his shoulder. She never realized how much damage she had done in the heat of the moment. She seemed to recall injuring his leg as well.

She got up and approached him cautiously and once she was close enough she eyed the wound in his side. That blaster wound. Mostly healed from bacta, but he had not spent enough time to cure such a very deep wound and it had been reopened. Something else was wrong here. It shouldn't look that bad.

"The Akk dog bit you..." She acknowledged and he jumped in surprise, having not been able to detect her through his pain.

"Leave me alone..."

"Just let me see-"

"I said leave me alone!" He snapped and this only earned him another jolt of pain that had him curling into himself.

"I for one don't feel like getting sick again because of you so I suggest you let me look after it." Her tone left no room for argument and his jaw dropped, giving away how genuinely surprised he was that she wouldn't back off and leave him alone even when he had taken such a tone with her.

His temper had always been his go to when he wanted people to leave him alone and it had always worked, but she was having none of it. Stubborn. She was stubborn.

He dropped his bloodied hand away from the wound in silent consent as he gritted his teeth and glanced away from her. She knew that he did not want the help, but this was not just for him. It was for her. She could not afford to grow ill through their bond if he went downhill from this.

Rey sighed and opened a small compartment that she kept hidden supplies in case she were raided while she was out scavenging. It held limited medical supplies that she had gathered over time.

"This weakness... must go..." He stated and brushed a hand over the injury, digging his fingers into the wound with a grimace. The tinge of pain was only half his pain, but she scowled at him and slapped his hand away from it.

"Stop." She sat in front of him and took in the extent of the wound. It was obvious it had been deeper and healed to a degree, but the strain he had put on it only took him back several steps. It was almost as if... he didn't want it to heal. As if... this last reminder of Han Solo he wanted to stay. He did. It was on purpose. "I don't have access to bacta. So you'll have to just put up with this lowly primitive form of medicine."

He scoffed at her as she poured water over the wound to clear it out and with a wince she took a hold of the sharp, white canine and pulled it free with some effort. The Akk dog tooth was a decent size and unfortunately was not alone. She had to pull two more because she reached back into her medical box and retrieved a needle and thread.

"Are they poisonous?"

"What?" His voice came across confused.

"The Akk dogs... are they poisonous?"

"No, but they like blood." It explained why they had gone for the wound.

"I suppose you would have died by now if they were... you were already in bad shape." Threading the needle she considered the best way to go about this. He was not going to like this at all and she had to be careful that he didn't snap again. Taking a breath she brought it to the wound and pressed it into the skin and out the other side to begin the process of closing the wound up.

His shoulders raised a little as he inhaled and held his breath. She was glad that it was not the reaction she was expecting. He was actually quite calm. She raised her gaze a moment when she felt a tinge of pain herself.

"Sorry." He had been trying to suppress it within their bond so that she could work in peace, but he was slipping up now and then. This did not stop her from progressing and he realized that she must have been forced to tend her wounds like this multiple times and was used to the pain of a needle. Being a scavenger was dangerous.

"You should teach me how to block you out instead." She said quietly as she carefully finished up and tied the ends up neatly from much experience.

With a sigh Rey glanced back up at him. His body looked strong still despite being ill. She still recalled the years she watched him work very hard to make his body this strong. He would practice every day for hours. She had always admired how strong he was. It had made her feel safe back then, but now... not quite so much. She was afraid of him over powering her now with pure physical strength.

She lifted her gaze up towards the mirror situated directly behind him and noticed in the reflection how torn his back was. She recognized these sort of scars. They were similar to the kind Nimma Outpost slaves had. Lightwhips were cruel inventions. It made her sick to the stomach to think about it.

"You... you're no better than a slave."

"I'm nobody's slave." He snapped and tensed up visibly.

"Yes, you are. Why would you serve him if he treats you like that?"

"The Supreme Leader is wise. He understands that with pain comes strength and that failure must be punished."

"The 'Supreme Leader' lied to you." Rey snapped back and his jaw clenched tightly as a sprung bear trap, but it was not something he could refute. The Supreme Leader had lied to him. He had trusted him when he had nobody else and Snoke had lied. Just like everyone else. She didn't wait for him to say anything and taped a bandaged over the fresh stitches. "It will keep the sand out. Don't take it off and don't scratch at it anymore."

"The Supreme Leader..." He groaned audibly and placed a hand over his eyes. It felt like he had slipped and fallen into a deep, dark hole and he couldn't find his way out of it.

"Try and sleep..." She said carefully and decided to continue their game of avoidance. She could tell that he was in no mood for further conversation. They kept running into this brick wall it seemed.

She made her way back to her bed and sank into it wearily. That should have been the end of it. It should have been easy to fall asleep, but here she was lost in thought when she should be sleeping. Rey glanced up at the ceiling... or... the side of durasteel that made up the ceiling... and tried to count the lines in it, but that did nothing to help. She rolled over carefully and tried to sleep on her side.

This also was of no help. she closed her eyes and thought about the ocean, but it only reminded her of all the times she had done that before. All alone in this AT-AT in the middle of the desert waiting for her parents while she was left in agonizing loneliness.

She wasn't alone now.

With a bit of apprehension she turned over again and watched him from across the room. He had not moved from his place this entire time. It was too cold for this. She bit her lip as she added up her options. There were not many. It was just too cold.

"It's cold." She voiced her thoughts and he only raised a brow without sparing a glance at her and she sighed deeply. "It's too cold."

"And...?"

"We'll freeze to death in the night." It was just fact. It had nothing to do with the fact that she couldn't sleep.

"How exactly have you survived these cold nights on your own?" His voice came across as skeptical.

"For one I never had to share my extra blankets with a stranger." This was also fact. If she had those she would be fine, but he would freeze if she took them. His wound would see to that.

"I'm a stranger?"

That was the word that he chose to focus on? It shouldn't have been such a big deal, but she felt it was. There was a certain sort of tinge she felt in regard to her words. It almost hurt, but this feeling was not her own.

"Just... get over here."

The silence took over again and she thought that he was just going to continue ignoring her and stay in his own corner as he had the night before, but he surprised her for once and grabbed the blankets he had and slowly made his way over to her. There was a moment he stopped inches from her and seemed to consider this. It did not last much longer as he draped the blankets over her. She sat up partially and eyed him wearily. Was he just going to walk away and get himself killed?

It seemed that he was really considering it, but then he shifted onto the makeshift bed and made a face. It was hardly as comfortable as what he was used to, but he grabbed a corner of the blanket and settled himself in it. This left them in an even more awkward position than before as he turned his back to her so he didn't have to look at her. He didn't want to face her at all.

That silence was back and she was beginning to hate it.

"Where do you go?"

"What?" His voice was filled with irritation this time. There were various things that he was angry about.

"When you can't sleep at night... you know where I go... where do you go?" She knew that she should leave him alone. Turn around and try and sleep. Not engage him in conversation, but she couldn't stand the memories this place held.

"I would have to show you." He took a breath and held it, considering his next move. "Do you want me to put you to sleep?"

"This... isn't a trick?"

"No... here..." He left his mind open to search his intent and found nothing other than a sincere want to help her find the rest that eluded her. He reached a hand out and lightly grazed her temple with the tips of his fingers and that was all it took.

Rey found herself somewhere else entirely. It was a seemingly endless field of golden rye, gently swaying in the breeze and a hill with a single tree was the only thing to see. She slowly held out a hand and lightly brushed the soft ends of rye as she made her way up the hill and stopped beneath the tree. There in the distance there was an end. A deep, dark forest. Erie almost, but here was safe from there.

Here was... beautiful. Here was familiar. She sensed his presence nearby, behind her, but she didn't turn.

"You dreamed of the Academy when you couldn't sleep..." She remembered these fields and their time spent here as children. It was his safe place. "I never thought... your mind could go to such a beautiful place."

"Almost." His whispered voice drew closer. "The darkness is always lingering."

"But you managed to hold onto it."

"If The Supreme Leader had learned of this place's existence..." A pause and then his eyes scanned over the dark forest. "He isn't here..."

It was a sudden epiphany.

"He...?"

"He isn't here. He hasn't been... not since..." He didn't continue that sentence and instead sighed. "Enjoy your time here. It's quiet. Nothing unpleasant will pry it's way in. I promise."

With that he left her to dream in peace. This was the least he could do. He was very familiar with sleepless nights and if he could change that for her he would. Snoke could frown upon his actions and his compassion, but Snoke was not here. He had abandoned him. Lied to him. He sighed quietly and pushed those thoughts far from his mind. It was just too much to comprehend at this time. Later a decision would have to be made he knew. A break in the road was coming.

He lightly trailed his fingers along her cheek and then back up to brush her hair away from her eyes in sleep. Carefully he shifted and leaned over her partially, taking in her face and the peaceful expression there. He carefully drew his hand away and then pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek. A brief exchange that she would never know about.

"Sleep well, Rey..." His voice just barely above a whisper. He turned his back to her then and curled into himself to try and gain the rest that he himself needed to keep up with the journey they were to undertake.  
  


* * *

  
Rey awoke to silence. Silence. She sat up and glanced towards the ceiling and waited for something. Anything, but there was nothing. Not a sound. That must mean the storm had finally passed and they could leave.

She quickly got up and went to the door, pushing the heavy durasteel open to find that outside was clear. The storm had finally passed.

"We can leave." She informed, but she received no answer and glanced back at him. He hadn't moved from that spot yet. In fact he hadn't moved all night. For a moment she stood there, watching, holding her breath as she waited to see if he was still breathing or if he had died during the night from his wounds. "Ben?"

But then no. She realized that had he died she would have undoubtedly felt an emptiness somewhere inside of her, because she felt his presence so clearly within herself that she knew that he was okay. She wouldn't say fine. He was still sick and he was wasting his energy trying to suppress his illness with the force. He couldn't keep doing it or he was going to die.

A low sigh left him. Irritated if she didn't know any better.

"Leave me here."

"What?"

"Leave me. I already know that if I should go back with you... you'll hand me over to the resistance."

"You won't survive out here. Not with a wound like that. You don't have a choice." Rey responded uneasily. She didn't want to have to fight him again.

A moment of silence before he slowly shifted and stood up. She was relieved that she wouldn't have to fight him over this. It wouldn't be a pleasant battle. She gathered up the bag and the parts they needed and there on the shelf the rag doll. The rebel pilot from her parents. The one that Ben had saved for her.

Maybe there was something good left in him.

They started the trek back across the desert towards their ship. It seemed to take forever because he was wounded and he was trailing behind a bit. She had to stop and wait every now and then for him to catch up. Of course she could tell he absolutely hated that she had to stop for him, but he didn't say a word.

Finally they arrived at the Falcon and she hurried up the ramp with the parts.

"I have what we need."

"Well done, Rey." Luke came around the corner on a set of crutches with his leg securely bandaged up with the aid of his wookie friend.

It made her grimace a bit. The strong, powerful and fearless Luke was like a crippled old man now. For some strange reason she felt a tinge of hurt in her chest at seeing him like that. She wondered if that meant that Luke was beyond being able to teach her. If he couldn't teach her then... how would she learn?

As if on cue Ben stumbled through the door and he immediately dropped down onto the couch and let out a breath.

"I'm going to get to work on those repairs." Rey informed and Chewie offered her some help, which she gratefully accepted. She would feel much better if he would help when he knew the most about this freighter.

"Look at you... you're old and broken... even like this... I could beat you and make my escape." Ben stated in a low tone. "I'll return to my master..."

"Ben..." Luke began. "Has Snoke really groomed and manipulated so well into thinking that he genuinely cares about you? You heard what Rey said. She can't lie through your bond so you know it to be true. The second there was a stronger force sensitive he thought he could manipulate Snoke was completely willing to sacrifice you. What does that say for your future with him?"

When Ben stood Luke prepared himself for him to lose his temper and break something, but instead of that Ben stormed off past him into the ship somewhere he could be alone. Artoo let out a sad little beep.  
  


* * *

  
"Try now." Rey called across the ship as she adjusted the piece and then stepped back a safe distance while Chewie made an attempt to start up the Falcon. Unfortunately the it only sputtered a little and Rey let out a sigh. Of course. She should have suspected it was going to take more than that to fix. This freighter was old after all. Just as she was about to return to her work she sensed that familiar burn nearby and quickly glanced towards the doorway. Ben stood there as awkwardly as ever and slowly approached the engines.

He raised a hand and flipped a switch on and then off again and that was all it took for the ship to roar to life.

"Still a piece of garbage..." He muttered under his breath.

"That was it? You just had to turn it off and back on again?" Rey was a little dumbfounded that actually worked. Chewie started the ship and with a shuddery start it took off safely away from the ditch.

"Well... the next option was to kick it." His lips quirked up faintly. A small smile that didn't quite reached his eyes. But fixing this piece of trash was hardly what he was here for. Instead he made his way over to a hatch and opened it up to retrieve a box. He opened it up to reveal a few bottles.

"What's that?" Rey questioned him cautiously as she took a step closer.

"Kolto." He responded as lifted his shirt up and bit into it to hold it with his teeth and keep his hands free to opened up one of the bottles. He dipped his fingers into it to gather up a liberal amount then pressed it deeply into the torn and jagged wound on his side.

"You already ripped out the stitches?" It was frustrating to her and even more so when his only reply was a non-committal grunt. She reached over and snatched the bottle from his hand which only served to irritate him further, but he relented and released the shirt and held it up with a hand instead. "Is it like bacta?"

"Sort of." He grimaced and shivered a little when he felt her hands apply the cold substance against his wound. Much more carefully than he had, but he didn't want a careful touch he needed the pain. "Kolto is a natural. Bacta is a synthesized."

"Does this work better?" She asked.

"Some people think so..." Despite the fact that he had been working on a mental border she could tell exactly what his thoughts were. It was in the way he clenched his fist and the way his jaw tightened. It was building until it poured over. "Stop... stop taking care of me."

"You're forgetting that we share this bond. If you hurt I hurt. Like it or not." She glanced towards the box and noticed smaller packets. Clean bandages. She grabbed one and tore it open to apply this to his side next. "I know why you're doing it... but punishing yourself... making it hurt for your father dying... it doesn't change anything."

"I thought we agreed to stay out of each others head." He snarled and pulled away from her to get to his feet and create distance. "Would you like it if I pry into yours again?"

"Try it. You're not the only one that can build walls." Rey was so confident that his expression faltered and he seemed completely shocked that she had become so sure of herself. He had no idea what to respond to that with. "I heard you... talking to Luke... you'll really go back to Snoke?"

"You both make it seem as if I'm a child being forced to act. I made a choice." The last thing he wanted was for them to pretend that he had not chosen this for himself.

"Under false pretenses. Even though you know that Snoke was pretending to be your grandfather all along you're still going to... to return to him? He wanted me to kill you and take your place."

"I can't go back. It's too late for me."

"Do you want to go back?"

"I don't know what I want." His voice broke despite himself and he glanced away from her, but not before she caught the glint of tears building in the corners of his eyes. This conflict inside of him was destroying him.

"Just come home..." She knew it wasn't going to be that easy, but he didn't argue with her like she thought he might. Instead he just looked defeated. Like he had completely given up any fight that might have been in him.

"Okay." A reluctant answer, but he knew he had little choice. Deep down he knew that one way or another it was over. Everything that he had believed in had come crumbling down all over again. He had little choice in the matter, but there was one thing that he did know even through all of this. He would never come to call the Republic home ever again.

The ship gave a jolt suddenly. They had company again. Those bounty hunters didn't give up easily, but then again on a bounty that large who would give up easily? As a scavenger Rey knew that she could never pass up a chance on a piece of scrap that was worth a week's portion.

With that thought in mind she quickly turned and hurried to the cockpit to try and figure out exactly what was going on and if she could help.

"You might want to take a seat." Luke gave her the warning just as the ship jolted once more in Chewie's attempt to avoid a few shots aimed to disable the ship. "Oh. We'll have to go through. We can't risk them following us to the resistance base, but it will be dangerous..."

Rey glanced up to find the reason for Luke worry. A thick asteroid field in front of them. It seemed impossible to get through. At least for the average person.

"I can get through it." Ben's voice came from the entrance and all eyes turned towards him in disbelief.

"How can I trust you won't fly us back into First Order territory?" Luke asked.

"I think Chewie would rip my arms off before I had a chance." He responded and Luke nodded in acceptance of the answer. He set a hand on Rey's shoulder as he passed her to the pilot's seat. "Strap in, kid this rid is going to get bumpy."

Rey was not convince of his piloting skills and so she wasted no time quickly strapping herself into the seat. She could probably make it through that, but he might have more experience flying than she did. She would relent just this once. His comment made no difference to her, but it had Luke raising a brow. For him it was almost like a memory from the past.

"I hope you know what you're doing." Luke commented.

"I find your lack of faith disturbing, uncle." Ben remarked dryly, before exhaling and pushing forward the throttle. He knew he could do this. He knew he could get them out of this mess of a situation.

Despite the risk the bounty hunters were daring and they took the risk of following them in after only a slight hesitation. The chase was on and he jerked the controls to the side to move around a group of rock which was promptly blasted apart by a few rockets that had been intended for their engines.

It was a small success because the bounty hunters had to deal with the broken chunks slamming into the hull of their ship, but ultimately they got out of it and kept on their tail. It was a high risk.

"Ben..." Luke inhaled sharply when they narrowly missed being completely smashed between two rocks.

"I could sleep my way through it." He responded just as he cut the engines. Chewie let out a cry, Artoo screeched and Rey covered her eyes with her hands.

"BEN!"

"I've got it." He quickly reached over and slammed a hand down on the hyper-drive and the next thing visible was the sudden jolt of the Falcon somehow narrowly avoiding the hunk of rock moving into the line of view which had successfully cut off the bounty hunter ships from getting a line on them.

That was it. They had made it through and successfully prevented the bounty hunters from following them. Although it was incredibly reckless to activate hyper-drive in the middle of an asteroid field he had somehow successfully done it.

There was a moment of silence and then for some inexplicable reason Luke threw back his head and started laughing. It was contagious and soon enough all them were laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation... and at how they had beat the odds. A peaceful, humorous moment among a fast paced moving world was rare, but this was one of those moments.

It was this moment that made Rey realize that this was what she had been missing. Her parents might be dead, but this was her family. these people. It also made her realize how much she wanted him back. She wanted him to come back to their family. She wanted him to fight by her side, because if she didn't have to do all of this alone... if she could do this with him at her side... maybe she wouldn't be so scared.

As if sensing those thoughts he briefly glanced back at her. An unspoken exchange. Yes. He did know but instead of saying anything he slowly stood up and left the cockpit. It left Chewie to take over piloting. They would be at the resistance base soon... and then she was unsure of what was going to happen to him. Surely nothing good.

There was nothing to do other than to sleep through the trip and so she stood up and retired for the rest of the trip.


	7. It's a Trap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are no need for words  
> when feelings are expressed  
> through a single, soft touch.  
> No matter the distance between us,  
> there will always be us.  
> If I have to go away without you,  
> please know that I always love you.  
> -unknown

The Falcon had reached it's destination and Rey quickly glanced outside to view the world that awaited here. She was eager to explore. To step outside and see what this planet had to offer her. It was vast, rich and green. The moment that the ship touched down and the ramp opened she was off to take in the planet with her own eyes.  
  
And then those small, colorful fluttering creatures made there way by and she followed them with her eyes, reached out a hand, but did not touch. Butterflies. She had not seen them in such a very long time. They were just as beautiful as she remembered them being. _Childish_. The thought entered her mind and she glanced towards Ben as he stepped off with Luke carefully trailing behind. It could be nobody else's thought, but she chose to ignore him.  
  
He followed her every little movement. Watched her follow after the butterflies like a little girl. It was endearing that she had managed to hold on to that innocence. She wasn't hardened to the world like he was. It was a particular childish in her that had once been in himself. and he wanted to protect it whereas he had been unable to protect it in himself. He would not let anyone steal that away from her. Not even himself.  
  
It took a moment for him to realize this was Yavin VI. He had been so distracted by her that he ha barely noticed and now he felt the immediate burn of rage. It was a sore and sensitive topic that he did not appreciate very much at all.  
  
"Why did you bring me here?!"  
  
"Not for the sake of melancholy." Luke replied with a wave of the hand and with the other leaning heavily on a makeshift staff that he'd found on the Falcon. Other than the brief words he ignored his nephew and approached Rey who had been drawn to a tall tree that stood proudly in front of the temple. "It draws you?"  
  
"Yes. What is it? It's beautiful." Rey could not properly remember her times at the academy because those memories had been stripped from her and though she regained most of them it was still hazy, but she seemed to remember something similar.  
  
"A force-sensitive tree." Luke folded his hands into his sleeve and gaze up at it. "There are only two left in the world."  
  
"The other... it was at the academy... wasn't it?"  
  
"Yes."   
  
"Why are we here?" The rage filled voice came through their conversation and Rey glanced back at Ben to see how uneasy he was about being here. How he clenched and unclenched his hands as if expecting something terrible about to happen to him... and maybe it was.  
  
"This is the location of the Republic's new headquarters after what happened with the Hosnian system. We are waiting on them to take you off our hands so that Rey and I can continue on and find the location of the Jedi temple." Luke answered him.  
  
"Justice then?" He asked suddenly and Luke sighed deeply and gave his nephew a displeased look.  
  
"Is your suffering not justice enough?" Luke was fully aware of his nephew's suffering. Being as attuned to the force as he was he had felt every moment of it. He had suffered with him. His greatest failure. "No. Your mother has asked us to bring you here in hopes that she might rehabilitate you. I do hope for her sake... and all the sacrifices made... that it is truly possible."  
  
"You've never believed in me."   
  
Rey held her breath and thought it best to stay out of this. She seemed to be finding herself in the middle of their fighting quite often. Luckily before their fight could go on any further there was a rumble in the earth and several troop transports rolled up. If they hadn't had the rebel emblem on the side she might have grown worried.  
  
Leia stepped out of the back with the aid of Poe and C-3PO and maybe Rey would have been happy to see her, but the distress on her face was clear.  
  
"Oh, master Luke it's terrible! Just terrible!" C-3PO started.  
  
"Luke, they found out. You have to take him back." Leia's voice was urgent. "He isn't safe here."  
  
"We need to leave immediately then." Luke responded.  
  
"What's going on?" Rey asked. She didn't want to be left in the dark, but it didn't seem that they had time to answer the question because they all but ignored her and started to rush them back to the Falcon.   
  
"Move quickly." Poe simply said. "We'll explain later. Now isn't the time."  
  
She decided to trust him on that and would wait for her explanation once they were safely off this planet. She only regretted that she could not enjoy the beauty just a little longer. Chewie lowered the ramp and Artoo rolled out to greet his old friend with a series of beeps. And then something change and Artoo's beeping changed to a higher pitch. A concerning one.  
  
"What? What do you mean we're surrounded?" C-3PO questions.  
  
No sooner than ha he said those words did a group of soldiers cleverly camouflaged appear from the trees and bushes around them with weapons drawn.  
  
"Down on the ground!" One shouted out.  
  
"Drop the weapons!" Another warned.  
  
"Master what do we do?" Rey asked under her breath.   
  
"We need to do as they ask. These men are innocent. They are only doing their job." Rey didn't like it, but she lowered the lightsaber and dropped it onto the ground in front of her as Luke did the same. Leia's troops copied the movement and lowered their guns, but they knew the risk that this mission ran. His eye's shot to his nephew. "Ben... drop it..."  
  
"Kylo Ren you're under arrest for crimes against the galaxy! Drop the weapon now!"   
  
Of course the infamous Kylo Ren had no intentions of being taken in so easily. He grabbed his saber form his belt and the second he flicked the activator and the saber roared to life. Rey shifted to grab her own, but Luke grabbed her by the shoulder to stop her with a stern look. She didn't understand why until the troops opened fire on him.  
  
The first shots he could deflect, block and reflect some back to hit a couple troops even, but with such a mass of soldiers firing at him eventually one stun bolt struck him and then another and finally a third. It was that third one that made him stumble and lose grip of the saber, but it still wasn't enough to down him completely. The soldiers panicked and fired several more at him and only when he hit the ground did they dare to approach him. The soldiers approached him like they might approach a wild animal, but then... Kylo Ren was an animal wasn't he? A beast that would rip their throats out the second he had the chance.  
  
The soldiers lifted him and cuffed him, tucking away his lightsaber where he could not retrieve it again. Had he not been dazed he'd have fought back wildly, but he could do little other than glare at them through the haze. The rebels forcefully loaded him into the back of a transport that had pulled around from it's hiding place.  
  
Rey wasn't about to feel sorry for him. He shouldn't have drawn on rebel soldiers. But then she glanced over and caught the look of distress on Leia's face. It was the look of a mother that desperately wanted to hold her child and kiss away the wounds. Rey knew better. She had blocked herself from their link the moment she knew he would be hurt, but Leia had left herself open to her son's pain. She made the decision to suffer with him, because she felt she could not let her son go through this alone. She was right there with him the entire time.  
  
Poe made the last minute decision to go with him and Rey knew it was so that Leia would not feel that her son was alone.  
  
"Did you think I wouldn't find out?" A tall,  blond uniformed man questioned, having finally deemed it safe to step out from behind his troops.  
  
"Admiral Furillo-"  
  
"Not... admiral. It's Chancellor now. While you were out committing this act of treason what remained of the senate was busy voting."   
  
"You don't understand." Leia argued. "I laid careful plans for this. Han sacrificed his life for this."  
  
"You think I don't know about sacrifice, General?" Chancellor Furillo snarled. "I know of it all too well. And that is exactly why I will not stop until that man receives justice. I should have you all arrested for treason, but... you did hand over not only Kylo Ren and a place to hold him, but the Chancellor's seat as well. For that I owe you and so I will overlook this little rebellion just this once. I will see you back at base, General."  
  
The feeling this Chancellor gave off unnerved Rey, but she had no place in politics and she certainly didn't want part in them. Luke's silence told her that he felt this way as well. She could tell from Leia's expression that she was exasperated from just a few moments with the man. Rey couldn't imagine working with someone like him every day.  
  
"Who he is? And how did he find out?" Rey asked quietly as the man walked off and left them space to speak.   
  
"Coltomar Furillo. His brother was killed in the attack on Starkiller and since he's been out for blood." Leia answered as she watched the man go with the coldest glare she could muster. "I'm sure he must have been watching my ever move. I played right into his hands..."  
  
"Leia, you mustn't think that way. You were trying to do what you believed was best." Luke insisted.  
  
"And I ended up handing my son over to that megalomaniac. Oh, Luke what have I done?" Leia covered her face with her hands and tried to hold herself together in front of her men, but it was clear she was being torn apart.  
  
"Don't be so hard on yourself. You couldn't have known."  
  
"But I should have. I should have known." Leia took several breaths and reached deep within herself to gather her strength. She stood tall and lowered her hands to look the part of the general that she was. "We need to go back so that I can access the damage done."  
  
"I agree. I will stay a little longer to see if I can sway the Chancellor's opinion. Surely he has some reasonable qualities to have been elected."   
  
Leia laughed at that. Though it was devoid of any humor. She could not possibly be any sort of cheerful in this sort of situation.  
  
"You clearly don't know the council like I do."   
  
"No. Our worlds are very different, but I can try." Luke leaned some more of his weight on the makeshift crutch as they began to make their way to the transports. It was then Leia's eyes shifted and she took note of how serious the injury seemed to be and furrowed her brow in question.  
  
"What happened to you, Luke?"  
  
"Unfortunately we were hounded by some bounty hunters." The pun was only known to Rey and she pressed her lips together in a thin line to prevent a smile. Now wasn't exactly the time for that. "I've done quite the number on myself this time."  
  
"Have you?" Leia lifted herself into the transport and offered her aid to her brother. Strange to see these two great warriors in such a shape, but Rey had the idea that even though they seemed that they were out of shape that it was a grave mistake to assume they were not still dangerous.  
  
The trip back was one of silence. Nobody said a word, but perhaps that was yet another misconception. Luke and Leia seemed to know something. They were siblings weren't they? It made Rey suspect that they shared a sort of Force Bond that they were perhaps communicating through. She didn't dare try to pry into it. Though it did make her wonder what it would have been like to have a family like that. To have people to rely on.  
  
I'm here.  
  
That thought seemed to graze across her consciousness. That was right. He was there, but they were going to part ways very soon. He would very likely be in prison for the rest of his life and she would still be alone. Just as she had been on Jakku.  
  
The transports pulled into the hanger and she took note of all the soldiers that were gathering to see just what was going on. Their surprise and anger that Kylo Ren the warlord of the First Order was exiting the first. It did not take long for word to spread... nor the anger. It was like a spark to a rye field. It soon erupted into a burning fire.  
  
"Not so tough now, Jedi killer!" A rebel shouted over the others. Others followed with similar taunts. It didn't take long for things to escalate and one man -a pilot- broke from the crowd. It was before anyone could do anything.  
  
He strode right up to him and drew a fist back to strike Kylo Ren across the face and then he grabbed him by the edges of his robes and shook him.  
  
"You killed my wife and daughter! You killed them!" The guards escorting him were about to pull the man off, but the second those words left the pilot's mouth they stopped. Everything stopped. It was eerily silent after all the shouting that the soldiers had been doing.  
  
Though Rey couldn't sense him through those force suppressing cuffs she could see the confusion on his face.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. My wife and daughter were on that planet that you destroyed! You took my home away from me!" The pilot drew his fist back again to strike him and he didn't bother to fight back.  
  
The pilot drew blood and Poe quickly stepped forward to draw the pilot away, but it was too late. The crowd of soldiers riled at the sight of blood. They were like sharks. It turned them visceral and brutal. They started throwing things. Whatever they could find, but how many men's families had been killed when Hosnian had been destroy? Rey began to wonder about that. Surely many of these soldiers from from that system. And it was gone. Their homes and their families were gone.  
  
Leia could only watched from the distance as her son went through this. She could have turned away. She probably should have, but she stayed with him through it all. Even if it could only be from the distance. Poe noticed this of course and took it upon himself to protect her son. He quickly removed his jacket and threw it over the back of Ben's head and rushed him forward to the halls where the soldiers would not follow.  
  
Chancellor Furillo followed shortly after and Leia took this as her opportunity to follow along as well. It gave the public appearance of politics at play rather than a concerned mother rushing to her son. Leia know that for the sake of her son she had to feign indifference to him.  
  
"Are we sure this cell will hold him?" Furillo questioned skeptically as he watched the guards forced Kylo Ren inside and seal the door shut behind him and then he was gone from sight. As if his no longer existed.  
  
Rey suddenly felt faint when she felt an emptiness in their bond. The feeling was similar to that on Starkiller where the ends of her fingers had numbed from the cold. It was only thanks to Luke's hand at her elbow that she did not stumble. Otherwise it seemed to go unnoticed by others.  
  
"Yes. I tested it on myself." Leia answered. "The cell is encased in a ray shield cover. It's designed to withstand the Force and has lightsaber resistant metals. We've also brought in two olbio trees to house ysalamiri."  
  
"I see. It was wise of you to use the Great Temple's isolation chambers to build the cell."  
  
"That isn't all. The doors are magnetically sealed. Just in case."  
  
"But you've also given him some luxuries. It should be a prison cell. Not a get away cottage."  
  
"Unlike The  Empire and The First Order... The Republic always makes sure their prisoners basic needs are meet. Or was there a change that I was unaware of?" Leia fired back immediately, but the chancellor did not budge. "What about a fair trial?"  
  
"Oh. He will have his trial. Of that I assure you." The chancellor gave a smile before he turned away from her and walked away with his escort.  
  
"He'll never have a fair trial at that man's hands." Leia worried.  
  
"Then I suppose that I had better start making a case for him." A voice interrupted and Luke rubbed a hand over his mouth to hide a smile. Leia wasted no time in embracing the man immediately.   
  
"Lando." Luke acknowledged. "What are you doing here?"  
  
This man was none other than the famous Lando Calrissian that Rey had heard stories of. The stories were true. The man absolutely oozed charisma.   
  
"I came at the request of the Princess. How could I decline?" Lando reached down to hold Leia's hand and the both of them shared a silent moment. Both thinking about the man that they had lost. "I'm so sorry about Han. I never should have retrieved that lightsaber for Ben for his birthday. The thing was cursed."  
  
"Lando, no." Leia responded, placing her other hand over his. "It wasn't the lightsaber. It was Snoke... he's been manipulating him."  
  
"Well... now that he has the best smooth talker in the galaxy on his side. I think he has the advantage." Luke stated.  
  
"Poe... would you please take Rey to her quarters? We have some things to discuss about the trial." Leia requested.  
  
"Of course."   
  


* * *

  
  
The room was nice enough. It was comfortable, but for the life of her Rey could not manage to get to sleep. She continued to toss and turn. At first she did blame it on the room. That was an excuse. She knew exactly what was bothering her. It was the silence. The uncomfortable feeling of emptiness. It was not something that she had ever felt before and she silently cursed him because it was his fault that she felt this way.  
  
Throwing her blankets off to the side she quickly got up and left her room. Hopefully a walk outside would help. The cold air maybe would sooth her so that she could get some sleep tonight. She was in for a surprise as she realized that this place was bigger than she had imagined and that she had no idea where she was going.  
  
She could not feel Ben through The Force, because he was completely cut off from it and it made her wonder. If it was bad for her... how bad could it be for him? Though it had never been a power she wanted to possess the thought of being cut off from it was like being cut off from water. It was alive in her. To lose it would be like death.  
  
She realized then that a walk wasn't going to help. The next option was to search for Luke through The Force. It wasn't too hard to track him down. He wasn't doing much to try and hide his presence. Perhaps he was allowing himself to be known on purpose so that he could easily be found if he was needed?  
  
Except when Rey rounded the corner to the room he was in she was shocked by the sight that greeted her. Luke making his way across the room to grab a datapad from a high shelf. It seemed he sensed her before she sensed him because he quickly dropped the datapad and started yowling like a cat.  
  
"Ohhh ohhh this old leg...." Luke began suddenly.  
  
"You're... faking...." Rey realized with a start.  
  
"Rey, how could you say that about your old, decrepit master?"   
  
"You're even grabbing the wrong leg!" She pointed out.  
  
"I-oh. So I am." Luke cleared his throat and stood up straight. Proving that he could indeed put weight on his leg and that he was not injured nearly as bad as he had pretended he was.  
  
"But why? Why would you fake it?" Then she came to the only conclusion she could. "You don't want to teach me?"  
  
"No, Rey. I've been faking because my nephew saved your life and for that reason I believe that you are the only one that can show him the light."  
  
"Leaving me on Jakku was hardly a saving grace." Rey could not bring herself to call that saving her life, but rather she would call it his weakness. He wouldn't even be here in the cell if she hadn't talked him into coming home.  
  
"You're right, but there is still good in him." Luke responded. "I know that you've sensed it as well."  
  
For a moment she wasn't sure what to say. She didn't know about this whole situation. It was all still confusing and so much to take in, but there was one thing that she knew for certain. "I can't save him."  
  
"No. He has to save himself. Like my father he had to make that choice. But I had hoped that spending time together.... maybe you could give him the reason." Luke knew for certain that his nephew would not ever harm her and so that was why he took the chance.  
  
"Look where listening to me got him. He's not going to trust me after this."   
  
"He won't blame you."  
  
"How can you be so sure?" Rey asked. She was having a hard time believing that was wasn't going to be a raging beast if he saw her again. Luke gave her a look as if he expected her to know the answer to her question. She didn't. "You're really sure there's no way to break this bond? I can't sleep."  
  
"The bond isn't keeping you awake, Rey." Luke gave her a sympathetic look. "But I think you already have the answer to what is."  
  
"I have to talk to him." She finally decided. There was no other choice. The silence from the other end was enough to almost make her crazy. She had to see him. Luke's expression showed he accepted the answer.   
  
Tomorrow. She decided she would see him tomorrow.  
  


* * *

  
  
"He won't talk." Poe insisted over lunch that next morning. "I tried to speak with him last night while Dr. Kalonia patched him up, but he shut down like Artoo after Luke disappeared."  
  
"He'll talk to me." Rey insisted and a few others glanced their way. She scowled in response to the eavesdroppers. It wasn't really their business.   
  
"You sound sure." Jessika pipped up from her place wrapped around Poe's arm. "Do you really know what you're getting into? I've heard some of the crimes he's committed... I hope he gets what he deserves at his trial."  
  
"No." She said it so suddenly. So loudly that it started her friends and they both gave her surprised looks. BB8 chirped in fear from underneath the table and if she didn't know any better she'd say he shivered.  
  
"He's not going to hurt you, buddy." Poe promised and reached down to pat the droid. "Just be careful, Rey. He isn't a shy little boy anymore and he isn't injured in the freezing cold."  
  
"You say that like you know him." Rey began carefully. She had yet to tell anyone about their relationship. It seemed like it would be a mistake with all these soldiers that hated him around.  
  
"He did." Jessika answered for Poe as he glanced down at BB8 without answering. There was a certain sadness to his eyes as he searched for comfort in his companion. "We were friends... the three of us. We were always challenging each other to races."  
  
"Ben didn't have a lot of friends..." Poe finally responded.   
  
"And so Poe dragged me along to make friends with him. I was in it for the racing. A little friendly competition as Poe put it."   
  
"Who won?" Rey questioned curiously. What had Ben's life been like before he came to the academy and met her? She wanted to know any details she could. Even if it didn't make sense to her why she was so curious.  
  
"Come on, Rey do you really have to ask?" Poe smiled faintly as he remembered those younger years. "He did of course. I'm good, but I don't have the force. Man what I wouldn't give for a cheat sheet like that."  
  
"Having the force isn't that much of a gift." She never wanted it. The force was like a heavy burden that she had to carry on her shoulders. If she could trade it to Poe she would do it in a heartbeat.  
  
"Is it true? What General Organa says? Did Snoke really force him into the darkside?" Poe's next question came out a little desperately. Like it had been something he had been dying to know for a very long time. Rey bit her lip and wondered about how to answer him for a moment or two.  
  
"It's true." She finally supplied. The things that she had witnessed through his memories and through his scars had shown her enough. Snoke had spent a lifetime conditioning Ben to be his own personal weapon. She wondered if there had ever been a time that Ben had really been free, but she already knew the answer. He had been tormented his entire life. And now he was imprisoned and going to be put on trial. What if this was her last chance? "I need to see him now."  
  
It was abrupt and she didn't even finish the food on her trey. An oddity in and of itself. She wished that she had the answers as to why she felt like this, but she didn't. Luke insisted that she knew the truth, but she had been awake all night trying to discover the answer and had yet to come up with it.  
  
First she needed permission to enter his cell and she knew that she did not want to go through the Chancellor. She had the feeling that he would deny her even if she did go to him and so she went to the only person that had that much sway. General Organa. Though when she arrived at the door she hesitated.  
  
What if the General was resting? Or going over important war plans? She took a breath and tried to calm her nerves. She shouldn't be overthinking these things. She raised her hand and knocked.  
  
"General Organa? It's Rey... I wanted to talk about Ben." There as a long silence and Rey wondered if maybe Leia was too busy. Then there was a little thunk from the other room and then another and Rey frowned. Before she could knock again and ask if everything was alright the door opened.  
  
"Rey." Leia breathed and then took a moment to clear her throat. It was then that Rey noticed that Leia was disheveled and she wondered if she had caught the General taking a nap. But when there was another noise Rey realized that the General was not alone. She noticed the mirror over Leia's shoulder and spotted Lando there, half dressed.  
  
Oh. OH. Rey realized exactly what this was.  
  
"I'm sorry...." Rey sputtered. "I'll come back another time."  
  
"Rey, wait!"  
  
If Leia wanted to explain Rey didn't care to hear it. She rushed off in another direction completely. It wasn't her business. She didn't even want to think of what had been going on in that room.   
  
Permissions be damned. She just went straight to the prison cell. It was the only thing to get her mind off of what she just saw.  
  
"Hold it." The guard stopped her.  
  
"I have General Organa's permission." Rey lied through her teeth and the guard was silent for a moment, but he didn't question her surprisingly and instead opened up the door for her.   
  
"If something happens give us a shout. We'll be right in."   
  
That was starting to get annoying. Everyone kept acting as if she couldn't protect herself against the fearsome Kylo Ren. She had defeated him once and she knew that if she had to she could do it again.   
  
The moment she stepped into the cell she felt herself cut off from the force and a shiver went through her. It was a very unpleasant feeling. Maybe that was why she had been so uneasy lately. To a degree she had been able to sense his discomfort at being cut off from the force.  
  
Oddly enough he did not react to her entering the room. He was sitting there in the corner reading. Though whatever he was reading didn't seem to hold his interest because his expression screamed boredom. She found that now she was here she didn't even know what to say to him and he didn't bother speaking first. Her eyes wandered around the room as she tried to think of how to address him.  
  
"It looks comfy enough..." She mused aloud and he lifted his eyes from the datapad and raised a brow.   
  
"A gilded cage is still a cage."   
  
Right. He was mad at her for getting him caged in.  
  
"If you're that bored... we could... play Dejarik. I'm just as tired of sitting around as you are." She silently patted herself on the back for a good lie. He didn't seem to suspect anything at all, but how was she going to get anything out of him about this feeling?  
  
"I hate Dejarik."  
  
"Why?" She wondered if he was making things difficult on purpose. He certainly wasn't above doing that.  
  
"What do you want from me?" He sighed and turned off the datapad, setting it aside as he crossed one leg over the other. "Did they send you in here to get information?"  
  
"No..." How was she going to explain to him that she just needed to be near him because of their force bond? He didn't seem to have the same feeling. It was a little discouraging that she was the only one feeling this way. He furrowed his brow and looked utterly confused. He couldn't push into her mind in here just as she couldn't push into his. They were at odds like this.  
  
"Then you're here of your own free will." His face took on a pleased expression at the realization. _So arrogant._ She thought. _Just like Han._ On second thought it was a good thing he couldn't hear her now.  
  
"Your trial is coming up and I wanted to ask you some things." Their silence stretched out and she could see a tinge of frustration coming to the surface. He didn't like not being able to get into her head.   
  
"Alright. I changed my mind. Let's play."  
  
"What?" This was a trick on his part. She knew.  
  
"For every piece you take... you get to ask a question... for every piece I take... I get to ask one. Does that sound fair?"   
  
That was what he was getting at. He couldn't get into her head one way so he was going to try and get in another way, but she needed the whole truth from him and she wasn't sure he'd give it... then again he hadn't really lied to her about anything major like the questions she wanted to ask. It was her only hope.  
  
"Deal."   
  
He slowly stood up and stretched out as he made his way over to the game table. Of course he must feel like a caged beast in here. She understood to a degree how frustrating this must be, but he was taking it surprisingly well. Too well. He hadn't ruined the room yet.  
  
The game started up and he began simple. Threw a small pawn out there. It was like he wanted it to be crushed. Leave it to him to dispose of the smaller pieces because they weren't needed. Still... she had to get her questions answered and she destroy his little pawn. Poor Ghhhk.  
  
"First question." He supplied and she knew that for whatever reason he left her have that first move and... she shouldn't have fallen for it. She had to start out simple or he might withdraw and change his mind about this.  
  
"Why do you hate this game?" She asked and watched as he tilted his head to the side curiously. It wasn't what he expected. Good. She had to keep him on his toes.  
  
"My father played it." Though he did answer he did withdraw a little and shift back in his seat uncomfortably. She guessed that he had to have learned it from somewhere. It made sense why he reacted badly at the first suggestion to play.  
  
She picked the The Houjix and she had to watch with a grimace as Ben crushed it with The Molator. He was merciless.   
  
"Why are you here?" His question was more to the point. She considered lying, but if she lied he might figure it out and then she wouldn't get answers out of him.  
  
"I can't sleep at night because of you. Because of our force bond."  
  
It was at this point that he started playing for keeps. He had more questions and he wanted the answers to them. She had to figure this game out quickly, but this was the first time playing it. She never had time for games like this on Jakku. It grew intense and started to feel like a real battle. Some creatures tied and lived to fight another day and sometimes they didn't.   
  
Like when his Kintan striders obliterated her K'lor'slug.  
  
"Did you come here only to ease your conscience?"  
  
"I..." Rey wasn't sure how to answer that one. She didn't know why she was here and she had no idea if this feeling was guilt or not. "I don't know. I don't know what I'm feeling."  
  
Finally Rey decided her best option was the Monnok. For some reason that particular piece called out to her and it was not a mistaken move. It smashed his Ng'ok with ease and he rubbed a spot on his chin with a huff.  
  
"What happens if our force bond is cut off?" It went unspoken that she meant if they decided to execute him for war crimes. Death was the only way to separate them.  
  
"I don't know, Rey." It wasn't what she wanted to hear. He could tell just from the look on her face that she was afraid. "You're strong enough. You'll be alright without me."  
  
It didn't sit right with her and she needed these last answers desperately. Her Monnok was all she had left and she had to fight hard, but she won the next answer.  
  
"Why did you give in and join Snoke?"  
  
"Everyone kept looking at me expecting to see a monster. I grew tired of disappointing them." He glanced away from her then and frowned.  
  
"Even though he's hurt you... even though he was going to dispose of you when he was done?"   
  
"Don't give me that look. My life would have ended in bloodshed no matter where my loyalty lay." He was completely resigned to his fate.  
  
"You-"   
  
"It's my turn. No more questions." He picked the piece that he had been holding back for the entire game. The Mantellian Savrips. It lifted her poor little Monook and ripped it in half with bare hands. "Do you like me?"  
  
"What?" Out of everything that he could have decided on for a final question it was if she liked him or not. Was that really the most important thing to him now?  
  
"I won. You have to answer me honestly."  
  
"I-"  
  
"Time's up!" The guard called from the door and Rey glanced between the both of them. She felt the pressure weighing down on her shoulders. "I haven't got all day."  
  
"I'm sorry." She stood up and started towards the door.  
  
"Tomorrow!" He stood suddenly. "Come back tomorrow. You have to answer. We'll play again... if you have more questions."  
  
"Alright. Tomorrow." She agreed as the guard urged her out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry. This cringe worthy story is almost at it's end.


	8. The Episode's End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You did something for me I couldn't do for myself. You loved me for who I am."  
> — William Chapman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dedicated to my sister.

The next morning she had breakfast with Poe and Jessika again. It was the first time that she had ever had access to plenty of food. It would have kept her completely distracted if not for the feeling she got from across the table. She could tell that Poe was trying to work out how to ask her if she had spoken with Ben. He never got the chance as there was a sudden commotion from the soldiers as a ship came in.  
  
"What's going on?" Rey asked. A part of her worried that perhaps this was bad news, but Poe was standing with the biggest grin she had ever seen on his face.  
  
"Come on!" Poe urged and rushed over to the large group of soldiers. She couldn't quite tell what was happening, but as she got closer she heard the cheers and watched as the returning soldier was lifted up onto the shoulders of several pilots. That was the moment she realized who it was.  
  
"Finn?!" Her own face broke into a grin at seeing him again. A returning war hero at that. She took it that his mission had been more than successful.  
  
The moment Finn noticed her he broke from the celebrating soldiers, jumped down from their shoulders and quickly rushed to gather her up in a hug. It seemed like it had been such a long time, but she had waited much longer for people to return to her.  
  
"Rey, it's so good to see you." Finn said as he drew back with his hands on her shoulders and inspected her carefully. "I heard you caught Kylo Ren. He didn't hurt you did he?"  
  
"No. I'm fine." She insisted, but she knew Finn's eyes were on the bruised cut near her temple. The result of escaping those bounty hunters hadn't yet healed.  
  
"Finn?" Their conversation was interrupted by a techie that approached, small and beautiful with the cutest smile. Finn looked sheepish and then rubbed the back of his head before putting his arm around the girl. The sight did something strange to Rey's heart.  
  
"Sorry. Rey... this is Rose. She really saved my life back there. I wouldn't have made it without her." Finn praised and pulled her in closer.  
  
"Oh... no... Finn is the hero here. You should have seen him. He was amazing! We never would have gotten the Intel without him." Rose responded. Finn looked at her with adoration. It was clear when Rose looked back up at Finn and they shared a certain type of smile exactly what had developed between them.  
  
"Alright, enough flirting." Poe wedged himself in between them and put an arm around the two as he started to led them forward. "We're going to get some drinks to celebrate!"  
  
Rey felt a strange and painful little tug in her heart and her stomach felt as if it had flipped over. It was strange that she felt that prickling feeling at the corners of her eyes. She had never cried much on Jakku, but she had liked Finn... and here he was with Rose. It wasn't that Rey wasn't happy for Finn. She was. She just wished... that maybe he would have been happy with her.  
  
"Rey, are you coming?" Jessika asked.  
  
"No. I'm not feeling much like celebrating tonight." Rey responded smoothly. A little quickly, but she somehow managed to reply without a single break in her voice.  
  
Most of the soldiers went to celebrate a victory, but Rey could only stand there and try to gather herself. It hurt, but she could do nothing to make this feeling go away. Instead she just started walking. She wasn't really intending to show up anywhere, but somehow.... somewhere along the way she had taken a turn down to the cell where they were keeping Ben locked up. She supposed that it must be because she had promised she would come back and she was subconsciously upholding her word.  
  
The guard let her in without a question this time and once she stepped inside Ben took notice and immediately stood up. He had been waiting for her to come back that much was obvious, but she couldn't look at him because she was afraid that she might start crying and so she quickly turned her back on him.  
  
There was no reason for her to let him know that something was wrong. He would only make it worse. He would taunt her and tell her she was a foolish girl to think that someone could ever love her. She instead focused on the small creatures crawling along the trees in between the two panels of glass. So these were the creatures that were keeping the force from reaching them here?  
  
"What are they?" She asked quietly, lest her voice break.  
  
"Ysalamir." He answered and she heard the rustle of the sheets as he stood up from the bed and the faint shift of his boots as he came closer to her. "They're native to Myrkr. Many people believe that the Ysalamir negate the Force, but that's impossible. All life is infused with the Force. What actually happens... is that they project a bubble that prevents us from exerting influence over the Force. It was a means of defense against Force-sensitive vornskrs."  
  
"What's a vornskr?" Her curiosity grew and she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye just in time to see him smile faintly.  
  
"A Jedi eater." As he shifted his weight from one foot to the other the expression slowly faded. "What happened to upset you?"  
  
She tensed at his question. He could tell?  
  
"I thought you said Ysalamir negate the Force."  
  
"They do, but I'm not blind. It's on your face."  
  
"How would you know what that looks like?" She grew defensive,  because she didn't want to tell him about it and she wanted him to back off of it.  
  
"Because I see it on my own face whenever I look into the mirror. I know it better than anyone."  
  
It wasn't what she would have expected from him in an answer. He had always kept to himself and been a very private person... so why was he opening up and telling her everything? She hadn't even beaten him at anything. If he was so welling to speak the reason couldn't go unknown to her.  
  
"Why are you answering all my questions?"  
  
"I know that I'm going to die soon."  
  
"No!" She recoiled from that answer and took a step away from him. "That won't happen. Leia won't let it happen."  
  
"It's alright. I'm not afraid."  
  
"Stop. Just stop saying it. It won't happen."  
  
"Does it bother you that much?" He hadn't really expected that this would be so bad for her... after all she was the one that wanted out of this bond. This was her chance. She should be happy, but since she wanted to stop talking about it and he had no wish to upset her further he decided to change the subject. "Will you be honest with me now and tell me what's bothering you so much that you would come to me of all people?"  
  
Could she do that? Maybe it didn't matter. He was being completely honest with her. He was telling her everything. Shouldn't she do the same? It would encourage him to keep being open and honest with her and she needed that from him to figure out this bond and why she couldn't sleep at night.  
  
"Finn came back... he managed to get some Intel from The First Order." She responded and watched the way his eyes narrowed. He didn't seem to care to hear that part. "He had some help. They seem close... I'm happy for him-"  
  
"But... you... like him." He acknowledged and she was startled that he was able to guess like this when he couldn't even get inside of her mind. Did he really know her so well? "You were never good at keeping those thoughts private."  
  
"Go ahead... laugh." She huffed and clenched her fists in anticipation of whatever he might say to her.  
  
Instead of making fun of her or mocking her for being a foolish child she felt the tips of his fingers pressed into her hand and losen it so that he could carefully take her hand. No strings attached. He didn't do anything else. All he did was take her hand to try and bring her a sense of comfort.  
  
That was her breaking point. The tears spilled freely and she turned into him, wrapped her arms around him and cried over her heartbreak. He stood completely still and eventually brought his arms up around her to try and comfort her to the best of his ability. It didn't matter that their force bond was cut off. He could still feel her pain as if it were his own and for a moment he felt a sense of overwhelming rage towards the traitor to have hurt her like this. He should be happy that he had her all to himself, but... he wasn't going to live much longer and he wouldn't be there for her.  He had hoped that perhaps the traitor would watch after her when he was gone.  
  
"That's why they call it a crush, sweetheart." The endearment went unnoticed. At least outwardly. He sighed and turned his face into hers. What could he do in this sort of a situation? He had no experience with helping people feel better and she wasn't a child anymore. Telling funny stories from books wouldn't work anymore.  
  
He very gently soothed a hand along her back. Any thoughts of their previous arrangement had vanished. There would always be time for another game some other time, but for now he would just hold her and let her grieve for lost potential.  
  


* * *

  
  
"What the..." The guard watching over the monitor for the prison stared at the screen and wondered what exactly it was that he was seeing. "Hey... take a look at this..."  
  
His companion glanced over at the screen for a brief second, dull eyes bored and then he looked away, but something finally clicked and he quickly glanced back at the screen with a dropped jaw. "Is that....?"  
  
"Kylo Ren... and Rey... and they're... friendly?" The first was completely confused and his friend even more so, but then they found themselves completely engulfed. A few other soldiers seemed to wonder what was so interesting and came over as well.  
  
"No way... impossible." Another mused.  
  
"I don't know.... it's sort of..." The first gasped suddenly. "What if Kylo Ren agreed to be captured because the two are secrete lovers!"  
  
"What?! No!"  
  
"It's sort of cute..." The female techie admitted.  
  
Another guard in the back of the room turned in his chair and looked at them all in disgust, lips curling back. "What is wrong with all of you? Are you sympathizing with Kylo Ren? A baby killer? A murderer? Come on... did you see that bruise he left on her? I bet she'll be the one to pull the trigger at the execution. If his mother doesn't do it first."  
  
Everyone in front of the monitor slowly looked back at the sitting guard and stared at him with a mixture of shock and as if he had lost his mind. Did he even realize how stupid he sounded right now?  
  
"Everyone knows she got that from the crash." They went on to ignore their grumbling companion and finally one of the men straightened up.  
  
"I'm getting snacks..."  
  
"This is disgusting. I'm going to be sick." The disgusted guard made another face and gagged.  
  


* * *

  
  
"Fetch BB8!" Poe shouted and tossed the ball across the hanger, smiling as BB8 rolled quickly to retrieve it with a happy chirp.  
  
"Is Rey really alright, Poe?" Finn asked. "She left awfully quick. I thought for sure she would want to catch up."  
  
"She just needs some time, Finn. She's been through a lot... and... no offense buddy, but you're kind of blind."  
  
"Blind?" Finn was flustered at the accusation.  
  
"Yes, blind. You came back with a girlfriend and where did that leave her?" Poe asked, taking the ball from BB8 as he rolled up with another cheerful chirp and awaited the next throw. Poe drew his arm back and tossed it further this time.  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"Rey had a crush on you, pal. It was pretty obvious from where I was standing." He clarified and Finn frowned and looked down.  
  
"I thought... well... I liked her too, but we just... we went our separate ways and... things just happened."  
  
"I get it. You don't have to explain it to me. OH! Good job BB8! You're doing great!" Poe yelled out his praises before glancing towards Finn.  
  
"What if this is my fault?" Finn asked.  
  
"What if what is your fault?" It was Poe's turn to be confused.  
  
"I heard Rey is spending a lot of time with Kylo Ren."  
  
"So?"  
  
"So I don't trust him... what if he's getting into her head and trying to recondition her like they tried to do to me?"  
  
"He can't use the Force, Finn." Poe grabbed the ball from BB8 and gave him a little pat before tossing it across the hanger again.  
  
"I'm going to have a talk with him." Finn said suddenly and Poe raised his brow sky high. It was the last thing he had expected.  
  
"Finn... wait... I don't think this is a good-" He heard a crash in the distance and noticed BB8 accidentally bumped into a pilot carrying some heavy supplies while bringing the ball back and the man was quite irate. Poe nervously glanced between the two, but ultimately he knew he could only pick one and he quickly hurried to his tiny companion. Finn could handle himself. He just hoped he knew what he was doing. "HEY! Back off my buddy!"  
  


* * *

  
  
Back in the security room all the guards -except one grouchy fellow- were enraptured with the tiny screen that kept a close eye on Kylo Ren's room. They really had nothing better to do all day and the interactions between the feared Kylo Ren and Rey were the most interesting things that they had done all day.  
  
It was the same usually. Occasionally there would be a tense moment when the two would snip at each other or a shared touch, but today was a momentous day for the guards, because the moment Rey entered the room she went straight to Kylo Ren's bed.  
  
"No... are they-"  
  
"Whoa she's taking his shirt off!"  
  
"MOVE! I can't see."  
  
"You guys owe me ten credits."  
  
The guards all tried to get a better view of what was happening when the door to the security room suddenly opened and they all scrambled to try and act as if nothing was going on at all, but it was too late.  
  
"What is going on here?" The authoritative voice questioned.  
  
"General Organa... we were just... keeping an eye on things." One quickly said as the General approached the screens and set a hand on the back of one man's chair and gazed at the screen.  
  
"I for one... am so glad you're here General." The corner guard said smugly. "These bafoons are trying to insist that Rey might have some sort of... misguided romantic feelings for him."  
  
"Huh." Leia continued to stare at the screen.  
  
"She said she had permission General. Is something wrong?" Another asked.  
  
"No. Nothing's wrong." Leia answered and then pointed to the snacks that had been hastily shoved aside. "But if you're going to spy on my son and his girlfriend at least share some of that."  
  
A guard quickly handed one of the bars to Leia in hopes to appease the General, but she seemed far from angry.  
  
"General!" The guard in the corner screeched in horror. "You're not actually approving of this... this abomination!"  
  
"If you don't like it there are a hundred other screens to watch." Leia shushed him.  
  
Their entertainment didn't last long however as Finn approached and the guard at the door knocked to let the two inside know. All the guards in the room groaned in despair at the interruption.  
  


* * *

  
  
The hard knocking at the door had Ben sighing in exasperation. He wasn't happy that their time seemed to be up already, but he couldn't do anything for that. Rey merely smiled faintly at him and drew back as she finished rubbing the last of the bacta into the wound on his side and placed a fresh bandage over it.  
  
"It's healing well. Does it feel better?"  
  
"Yes. Thank you for tending to it."  
  
She was amazed with how their relationship had improved lately. They still had their disagreements of course and they fought, but it had improved.  
  
"I'll come back tomorrow?" She asked.  
  
"I look forward to it."  
  
She moved towards the door, but when it opened she was shocked to see Finn standing there. She had only thought that her time was up. Not that someone else might come to visit with him.  
  
"Finn? What are you doing here?" At her words Ben quickly jerked his head up towards the door in a mixture of surprise and irritation.  
  
"I need to talk to him." Finn responded without missing a beat and there was a tense moment between the three of them.  
  
"Take it easy on him." Rey requested as she passed him and slipped out the door.  
  
That left Finn and Ben alone for the first time in a long time. The air grew thick with tension as Ben slowly stood up to his full height and Finn glared to let him know he wouldn't be intimidated by his size.  
  
"What's going between you and Rey?"  
  
"Jealous?" Ben smirked triumphantly and Finn clenched his fists, but then took a breath and released it.  
  
"If you hurt her I swear..."  
  
"You already did that."  
  
"You're not turning it around on me that easily. You and I both know that I never meant for things to turn out like this." Finn took a step forward and Ben narrowed his eyes and puffed up like a territorial predator. And here Finn hadn't thought this guy could get any bigger, but he only had to tense his muscles like that and Finn had the feeling he might try and crush him with sheer power. "Let's cut to the chase."  
  
"Let's."  
  
"What are your plans for her?" Finn asked.  
  
"There are none."  
  
"None? I don't believe you."  
  
"Believe it. I'm going to die soon. So nothing matters." He sighed and lowered his shoulders and moved to sit back down on his bed as he made his point. "I had actually hoped... that you would be the one to watch over her."  
  
"What? Why would you want that?" Finn couldn't comprehend what was being said to him. It did not sound like the Kylo Ren that he knew.  
  
"Because you infiltrated Star Killer to rescue her. That proves something."  
  
"You're... being honest. You want her... to be protected?" It wasn't where Finn had expected this conversation to go. "You care about her? Don't tell me... you actually..."  
  
"Yes." Ben sighed again and glanced at his hands in his lap.  
  
"I don't understand you."  
  
"I don't expect you to."  
  
"Why didn't you kill me?" That was a question that Finn had been dying to ask. "I know that you had the chance."  
  
"I was going to take you back alive for a fair trial. We're not animals." He responded calmly.  
  
"No. Before that. In the village. You were inside my head. You knew... that I was going to leave. I know you knew."  
  
This time there was a long silence and finally an answer.  
  
"Because I wanted to see if you were brave enough to do what I couldn't. You were... and I envied you. You escaped, you earned Rey's affections... and my father's..." And again he sighed and laid back on his bed. "I'm tired now. Leave me."  
  
Finn didn't need to hear another word. He left immediately.  
  


* * *

  
  
The door to his prison cell opened and he expected that it was Rey with her daily visit. He had grown fond of them. Initially he had been angry with her, but he hadn't been able to bring himself to harbor a grudge against her of all people.  
  
It wasn't Rey of course. It was the last person that he wanted to see right now. His mother stood there with a sorrowful expression upon her face and somehow that look still made his insides twist uncomfortably. He didn't like seeing that look on her face.  
  
"It's time." She simply said and he didn't need to ask what that meant. Standing from his bed he slowly approached his mother and stared down at her for several long moments. How much time had passed since they had last seen each other? "Ben, it was you wasn't it? You warned us about the Hosnian system."  
  
"I hardly think it matters at this point." He responded and then lowered his voice considerably. "For what it's worth... I'm sorry..."  
  
Two guard entered the room to cuff him once more and then escort him out, cutting off their conversation. There were still so many things they had to say to each other. The guards led him down the halls and this time he managed to avoid having anything thrown at him. It seemed this was being kept a secrete. That was for the best. He wanted to get this over with.  
  
Luke and Rey were there outside the door and he passed them as they took him inside the room where his trial awaited him.  
  
"Rey..." Luke began. "It is imperative that you do not mention your force bond. It could very dangerous for you."  
  
"But I have to... what if they decide to-"  
  
"You mustn't. The council may decide that you've been influenced by him. We can't afford to have them think it. Please do as I've asked and keep your bond a secrete."  
  
"Alright... I understand." Rey let out a breath and hoped that they would be able to make a good case for Ben. If not... she didn't know what she was going to do. She didn't want to see him die. Not after all the things he had been through. He deserved better than that.  
  
Luke composed himself and entered the room and she followed her master with another nervous breath. There was a large group of people sitting behind a long table with the Chancellor at the center.  
  
The room was full of officials. Poe was there next to Leia and Lando. Luke took his place next to Ben and she found her place beside him as well. It seemed only important people were here for this trial. Nobody was here to observe. That was for the best. The soldiers wanted him dead.  
  
A hooded man stood up and the room's quiet mummers ceased. Rey was curious about who that man was as well as who the rest of these men were.  
  
_'A member of The Church of The Force.'_ She heard Ben's words in her mind. She had nearly forgotten that he could hear her thoughts after days of being cut off from their bond. _'They don't like me very much.'_  
  
"Before we begin, I want to remind all those present in the courtroom that this is a court of law. The Court recognizes the emotional nature of this case and its importance to all parties involved.  However, vocal outbursts or displays of emotion will not be tolerated. Any  violation will result in removal from the courtroom."  
  
"Kylo Ren... you are aware of the charges?" Admiral Statura questioned.  
  
"Admiral Statura... if I may?" Lando stood up and the Admiral nodded for him to continue. "I would ask that we refer to the defendant by his birth name."  
  
The Admiral glanced towards Chancellor Furillo for permission and the Chancellor sighed and waved a hand. "Inconsequential, but if you insist you may refer to him however you please."  
  
Lieutenant Connix was the next to speak.  
  
"I would like to open by stating that this trial imposes a grave responsibility upon the Republic. The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that the galaxy cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated." The Lieutenant continued. "Mass punishments were inflicted, so savage that whole communities were extinguished. Men, women and children burned alive on the pretext that they are suspected of belonging to the Resistance. Children trained for the use of violence under military discipline. An entire system of innocents destroyed."  
  
There were a few quiet whispers in the back of the room and looks of disgust crossed the faces of several of the men seated at the table before them. Rey had a very bad feeling about this whole thing. The way they started it off as if they were blaming all the crimes of the First Order on Ben. She knew he was guilty of some of those things, but there was still good in him. He was changing. Realizing his mistakes. She could feel it.  
  
"You are aware of the seriousness of the charges?" Lieutenant Connix questioned.  
  
"Yes." Ben responded calmly.  
  
"Where were you born?" The man asked suddenly and Ben merely raised a brow.  
  
"I don't see how that's relevant."  
  
"Answer please." The Chancellor spoke up.  
  
"Hanna City of the planet Chandrila. You know this."  
  
"For a short time it was the capital of the New Republic and the seat of the newly formed Galactic Senate following the Battle of Endor." Lieutenant Connix continued on. "What did you think of it?"  
  
"I was born there, but I wouldn't consider it my home. The people were haughty, pedantic, and obsessed with politics."  
  
"You don't like politics?"  
  
"It was politicians that brought The First Order to power and started the war.  Your whole system is based on corruption and hypocrisy." Ben responded and there were murmurs of disapproval throughout the room.  
  
"Your honor let us not forget that Ben is still a member of the Elder Houses." Lando spoke up in a last ditch effort to do damage control.  
  
"Yes. Let us not forget..." The Chancellor said. "that Ben Solo belongs to the House of Organa, but let us also not forget that the Royal House of Alderaan is no more thanks to The Empire."  
  
"Chancellor you seem to have dismissed New Alderaan. Is it not a part of our grand Republic?" Lando retorted.  
  
"I know what you're trying to do here. It won't work. I am afraid that General Organa is not going to be able to use influence and credits to make it "disappear." as if this is another of his petty misdemeanors." The Chancellor seemed to realize that it was he who was becoming heated and then he took a breath to clam himself. "Lieutenant Connix please continue."  
  
"Ilco Munica, Dasha Promenti... church leader Lor San Tekka... these are just a few of the names on the long list of those that were murdered on Jakku."  
  
"Members of The Church of The Force were armed rebels." Ben responded. "I was told to make an example out of them..."  
  
"And it would be this Supreme Leader Snoke who ordered this?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"But you obeyed the order."  
  
"A knights duty is to obey."  
  
"It was your duty as a knight to destroy The Jedi Academy? Han Solo? And most importantly... when you destroyed Hosnian system you not only murdered countless innocents, but you also murdered Chancellor Villecham!" The Chancellor lost himself again.  
  
"You're wrong!" Ben snapped and stood up out of his seat. "I wasn't responsible for Hosnian!"  
  
"Mr. Solo sit down!"  
  
"I will take credit for all the things that I have done, but not that."  
  
"Ben... sit... down..." Lando insisted between gritted teeth.  
  
"I had the Jedi Academy razed to the ground. I hated it. I Destroyed The Chruch of The Force on Jakku. I... killed Han Solo... but I did not... have anything to do with Hosnian. I openly opposed the use of Starkiller on the Hosnian System." Ben sighed and set his hands on the table in front of him. "You're looking for a monster to crucify as if it will make you all feel better... it's alright. I'm not afraid to die, but... you're not going to feel any better once you've killed me. I've tried that more than once."  
  
This had gotten attention of the entire council. They were silent for a good long moment before they started to whisper among themselves. Whatever they were discussing did not take long to decide. They passed this information onto the Lieutenant and the Lieutenant passed it on to the Chancellor.  
  
"Ben Solo for crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity The Court unanimously sentences you to death." The Chancellor declared loudly.  
  
Most of the officials in the room looked pleased. Almost vicious in their victory. Leia audible gasped and placed a hand over her heart. It was almost more than she could bare to hear. Rey had no idea what was going to happen now, but she felt a similar panic to Leia. Surely they couldn't do this?  
  
"Chancellor..." Luke stood up. "You must understand. My nephew regrets the choices he made and came with us voluntarily. My father made some mistakes... but he was able to come back from them. I would be dead and the Empire in power had he not saved me."  
  
"Your father was a tyrant and a war criminal and had he survived he would have been tried and put to death in this very manner." The Chancellor responded ruthlessly.  
  
"Your honor!" A voice spoke up from the back. It was Finn. "I recently went on a mission and successfully retrieved data on The First Order. You wouldn't have that data if Kylo Ren hadn't spared my life on Jakku... I'm not asking that you let him free. He is guilty, but at the very least... spare his life."  
  
"I understand the sacrifices that you've made for the Resistance and for the Republic and we are very grateful, but the verdict stands. This man must die for his crimes."  
  
The Chancellor wasn't budging and Ben had already accepted that he was going to die without any real argument against it. Rey almost felt like her head was in some sort of haze and she had the feeling that if he died she would be lost. She wasn't sure when it had happened, but they had become so tightly woven together that just the thought of not having his constant presence in the back of her mind nearly made her panic.  
  
"You can't kill him." Rey finally spoke up, despite Luke's warnings.  
  
"Rey... please..." Luke pleaded.  
  
"Rey." Ben's voice was clipped and hard. Of course he knew what she was going to do.  
  
"Excuse me?" The Chancellor looked personally offended.  
  
"We have a force bond. If you kill him you're hurting me... and you know that I'm your only chance at stopping Snoke."  
  
Luke let out a little sigh and shook his head slowly, but her words had the members of the council speaking quietly among themselves. Though she had no idea if it was a good thing or a bad thing.  
  
"A force bond?"  
  
"Master Skywalker you were aware of this and you did not inform us?" A Church of The Force member looked exceptionally distressed. "You know the degree to which they could influence each other. Chancellor a Force bond enables the communication of thoughts and... feelings. It is not the Jedi way."  
  
"Well maybe the Jedi are wrong." Rey risked and the entire council let out murmurs and gasps of shock. "Look at what you've done to them. You take them and turn them into a shell, but emotions should be a part of life. You make them swear to celibacy and instill shame, fear, and guilt upon them for feeling things that are only natural. You tell them that falling in love is wrong, but love doesn't condemn us it sets us free. That's been proven time and time again. Love doesn't lead to the dark side. Love is the light. That's what the Jedi should be teaching."  
  
"Love gives us people we might fear losing. Fear of loss leads directly to the Dark Side "  
  
"Sanctimonious platitude." Ben sneered.  
  
"Enough! I will not have you attempting to invalidate the integrity of the court. I've half a mind to hold you all in contempt. The verdict stands and that is final." The councils mind was completely made up. Nothing would make them budge. They had come here knowing that they would have him put to death. "Take him."  
  
The guards immediately took him from his seat and led him outside. The court entire court looked please. Satisfied. Before Rey could protest Luke silenced her by placing a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Wait... I want a moment..." At the door Ben stopped and refused to budge when he passed Poe. "I've left countless women childless... I have no desire to make my mother childless... I want you to take my place. Her heart is so full. She needs someone to love. And you... you need a mother."  
  
Poe was stunned by those words. It was the first time he had spoken with Ben Solo in years and those words formed a request. He refused to accept the interrogation as a conversation because that was not the man that he had once known. This person before him was.  
  
"I will." Poe promised and with that the guards gave Ben a hard shove and forced him to keep walking.  
  
The room slowly cleared out until only the small group in the favor of Ben Solo was left still stunned. They were all silent for a time.  
  
"The whole trial was just a formality. They knew walking in here they were going to convict him." Lando shook his head in disappointment.  
  
"Luke..." Leia began with teary eyes, barely able to hold herself together and her brother promptly held a hand up.  
  
"I know what we must do. Go and prepare the ship." Luke told her. Leia went along with Lando, Finn and Poe and then Luke turned to Rey. "Come with me."  
  
"What are we going to do?" Rey questioned.  
  
"We're going to stage a prison break and get Ben to a ship, but we must act quickly." With no time to waste Luke quickly rushed from the room and Rey realized that he really was good at faking. He was getting around just perfectly.  So much for old and decrepit as he had claimed himself to be.  
  


* * *

  
  
The soldiers stood him against a wall and then returned to their place within the firing squad opposite of him.  Closing his eyes he took a breath, inhaling the scent of the freshly blooming blossoms on the breeze as he waited for the end to come. He was glad that at least he could die outside and not caged in like an animal.  
  
There were no ill feelings regarding his execution. He had accepted a long time ago that his life was going to end violently. The only thing left for him to wonder was what awaited him at the end. More punishment? Or would he finally, finally be at rest from this difficult life?  
  
"Do you have any last words?" The Chancellor asked, but he decided to remain silent. He had nothing left to say. "Very well. Colonel, please proceed with the execution."  
  
"Ready!" The colonel called out to his men.  
  
He heard the blasters before he felt them. Or at least he had thought so. He waited and waited and when he realized he was not dead he opened his eyes and scanned over the shot up bodies of the firing squad in front of him and then to those that had saved his life.  
  
The Knights of Ren.  
  
"Master." One acknowledged as he quickly approached him and freed him from the force suppressant bindings.  
  
"How have you come to be here?" He asked, eyeing the smoke that still rose from the freshly made blaster wounds on the bodies of the soldiers and then over to the Chancellor who had been violently stabbed to death.  
  
"The Supreme Leader is here, Master. We've been scouting the base for some time and when we learned your execution was set for today we were commanded to move. He's come to bring you home." Another informed him and then pulled up his com. "We've secured Master Ren and shut down the anti air, Supreme Leader. You are clear to land."  
  
"They've taken my saber." He stated, because he was aware of how nervous he looked without his mask to protect his expressions. He needed to pass off his fears for his mother as concern about his lightsaber.  
  
"We will find it, Master." The first assured him. "Until you recover your weapon let us lead the way."  
  
The Knights started to move and he nearly panicked, but he had to keep his face as calm and stoic as he possibly could. Acting up would make him lose control over them. He needed to maintain a semi-balance of power.  
  
He followed them into the hanger and watched from behind as they opened fire on the unsuspecting rebels. Someone somewhere along the line triggered the alarms, but it was too late for them. The First Order ships were already taking advantage of the massacre of the pilots and landing in the hanger.  
  
There was nothing that he could do. Not for either side.  
  
One soldier made an assassination attempt on him with a blaster set on sniper calibration, but he caught the bolt and shoved the man hard enough ito the wall to render him unconscious. He could have easily crushed him, but Rey's words came back to him. His heart knew the difference between right and wrong. He made the choice not to kill him.  
  
With stormtroopers flooding the hanger and the rest of the base he could only hope that the rebel soldiers would do their job and look after their general first and foremost. The hanger was considered safe enough for The Supreme Leader's ship to land and he felt a sense of dread as he watched the ship land in between two troop transports.  
  
A few exploding rebel ships rocked the temple and a few chunks of stone fell from the ceiling. It was dangerous and yet the ramp lowered and Snoke slowly descended with Hux at his side.  
  


* * *

  
  
The second the alarms went off and the explosions started to make the temple crumble Luke knew what was happening. It changed everything. He stopped and took a few moments to search through The Force.  
  
"Rey... Snoke is here... with Ben... I have to find Leia. You find your friends and get out of here."  
  
"I'm not going to leave you." Rey responded quickly.  
  
"You must. The fate of the galaxy depends on it." Luke insisted as he removed his lightsaber from his belt and rushed off in another direction completely.  
  
She was torn between following him or obeying his orders, but he was right. She had to find Finn and Poe. They were bound to be in the thick of it. First she needed to get the Skywalker saber or she didn't stand much of a chance.  
  
Rushing back to her room she didn't even make it through the door. Someone was rummaging around in there. Her first thoughts were to find a weapon for herself, but she didn't even have the chance. Arms were wrapping around her from behind. She knew exactly how to escape this. She'd done it before.  
  
"I have the girl-" The mechanical voice began to speak, but she quickly brought her head back into his. It hurt them both with that helmet, but had the desired effect of knocking his head back and loosening his grip.  
  
Another rushed out of the room and she managed to trip him at the door using a burst of force at his feet. He fell face first, but he had a similar helmet. She had seen these men before in one of her visions! That was the moment she knew she was in real danger.  
  
The one behind her started to recover and she quickly threw her elbow into his gut to try and stop him, not realizing there was a third one in the room. He jumped over his fallen comrade and grabbed one of her arms and twisted it painfully behind her back, snapping on a pair of force suppressant cuffs on the hand he had behind her back. This was not common knowledge on Jakku. Scruffy scavengers did not know joint locks like these. He started to reach around for her other hand to try and incapacitate her and she struggled harder, but only caused more pain to shoot up her arm and into her shoulder.  
  
Ben, help me. She silently pleaded and at first she thought that he had abandoned her, but suddenly she had knowledge of the man's fighting style and how to escape. She was able to turn it around on him and get him into a similar lock up.  
  
It didn't matter. Three more knights stormed down the hall and she knew she was completely out numbered, but she wasn't giving in so easily. She kicked the man she had joint locked into the wall and tried to make a run for it, but the one she had tripped early caught her by the leg and soon she was falling.  
  
The moment she hit the ground she knew that was it. The other three arrived and all the squirming and biting in the world wouldn't save her. They brought her other hand over and cuffed them together and dragged her up onto her feet and forced her to come along with them. Not a word was spoken.  
  
She did notice one went back into her room and then returned with both the Skywalker saber and Ben's. That must have been what they had been searching for. That meant they were taking these things to him. She was going to see him. Surely if he had given her that information then he was not going to turn her over to The First Order... to Snoke.  
  
The Knights however did lead her straight to the hanger where that dark creature loomed over Ben expectantly.  
  
"Ah... there she is. The girl who bested my apprentice." Snoke waved his hand for the knights to bring her closer. "You can release her."  
  
To her surprise the knights uncuffed her and she used that to her advantage to try and force push Snoke into the burning flames of a fighter, but nothing happened and Snoke chuckled in amusement. A sinister sound.  
  
"Who... are you?" Rey asked. Who was he that he could prevent her from using The Force? No wonder Ben had been so afraid of him. He was powerful. Maybe even more powerful than Luke Skywalker himself.  
  
"I have been called by many names over the years... Hego Damask, Snoke.... but perhaps you will know me best by the name Darth Plagueis the Wise."  
  
"You... you're meant to have died."  
  
"My apprentice failed... as you can see... he came very close. Now... he is dead... and I live. I realized the errors the Sith and since have mastered life... and death." Reaching up he ran a hand down the massive scar in the center of his head. "You young one... have caused me a great deal of trouble and I should kill you, but you have great potential. I want to give you the chance to take my apprentice's place. Kill him and swear your allegiance to me."  
  
Rey quickly glanced at Ben and waited for him to say something... anything, but he maintained his silence. He wasn't even fighting it. He was just going to let it happen. It did not go unnoticed by Snoke.  
  
"Ben...?" Her voice came out weaker than she'd have liked. He was just going to so willingly allow this to happen?  
  
"I assume that he will obey this last command? Unfortunately you broke our bond and I can no longer read his thoughts therefore... one of you must die to break the bond between the two of you. I will bond with the victor." Snoke stated.  
  
"You mean he's outlived his usefulness because you can't control him anymore?"  
  
"Control? No. He obeys me of his own free will. He owes me that much."  
  
"He doesn't owe you anything."  
  
"I created him. Just as I created the entire Skywalker line." Snoke did not lose his temper. His tone was always so even. Cold. She could almost feel her bones freeze. "Through The Force I influenced the midi-chlorians and I created life. I created Anakin Skywalker. The Skywalkers rightfully belong to me. I give life... and I take away. Kill him now... and take his place at my side."  
  
"I'll never obey a monster like you." Rey spat in disgust.  
  
"Then you will be destroyed!" Snoke held his hand out and a Knight handed him the Skywalker lightsaber which he gave to Ben. "Kill her."  
  
His face as he took the saber from Snoke was sullen. There was no argument from him as he took a few steps towards her and stood between her and Snoke. The knights of either side of her shoved her down hard until she hit her knees before him.  
  
"Ben... please... don't do this..." She wasn't pleading for her life. No. She would die without so much as a whimper, but she was here pleading for his life. If he went down this road... it would be so much worse than death.  
  
"I'm sorry, Rey." He said softly as he glanced between her and the lightsaber he had sought out for so long. It was finally in his hands and yet... it felt wrong. He glanced back towards Snoke who nodded in consent and back to Rey. Ben had made his final choice. He finally knew what he was meant to do. "Rey... I promise it will only hurt for a minute."  
  
Impossible. She'd had faith in him and he had betrayed her. He betrayed everything. She glanced up at him in shock as he raised the saber up, but then his left hand came out and he force pushed her hard all the way across the hanger and past the blast doors.  
  
He jerked his hand back and the doors slammed shut and in that moment he turned and sliced through Snoke's saber wielding hand. Snoke cried out as his curved saber and the lower half of his arm hit the ground with a thud.  
  
"NO!" Hux cried out quickly raised his blaster. That Ben blocked, but his knights turned on him and he quickly had to let the bolt go. It hit him in the shoulder. It was the price he paid to defend himself from a death blow from his knight.  
  
Rey gasped in air, tried to breathe. It had hurt. Been painful to be shoved so forcefully, but he had saved her life. He had turned on The First Order. On Snoke. She quickly forced herself up onto her feet and tried to get the doors open. She knew she had to help him. He couldn't fight all of those soldiers by himself.  
  
The doors were sealed though. She couldn't get them open. She slammed her hand into the window in the center. He locked her in here. She needed to think fast. Her eyes shot to the panel on the wall and she knew that she could override it and get the door open.  
  
Ben meanwhile was struggling to fight off the knights and the stormtroopers shooting him. It was fortunate for him that Hux had only fired once to distract him and then moved to tend to Snoke.  
  
He managed to cut one of the knights clean in half and a second one he took his arm off. It was painful for him to kill his own knights, but they left him no choice. They turned on him and he had to defend himself. He killed three at least and then one of the smaller ones leapt onto his back and wrapped an arm around his throat.  
  
The knight rammed his blade into his back once, twice... over and over viciously stabbing him and he cried out and tried to shake him off. He ducked forward and threw the knight off of him and then brought his saber down into the knight's chest.  
  
Another made to move in, but he was froze in place. Ben found that he was also frozen in place and there was a certain sense of panic that he desperately tried to suppress as the force slowly started to crush him to the point of not being able to take in air.  
  
"Enough!" A voice boomed and Snoke stood up in a fury. The fires were raging all around them and what remained of Snoke's arm was curled into his stomach. The other hand he had raised up and proceeded to used The Force to slam him into the wall.  
  
In the other room Rey doubled over and it was as if all the breath had been stolen from her lungs. She felt his ribs break as if they were her own and it was agony. She had to get this door open, but she was so nervous about getting there in time she couldn't stop her hands from shaking and it was making it take that much longer.  
  
Snoke's rage at his betrayal could not be contained. He slammed Ben hard into the other wall all the way over on the other side of the room. It was his head that struck the durasteel and he cried out in pain, but Snoke was not finished with him. He lifted him up, let him hit the ceiling and then... he released his force hold on him and let him fall all the way to the ground.  
  
With him defenseless he unleashed a violent torrent of lightning into his former apprentices body. He would see to it that he suffered to no end. Once Snoke was absolutely certain that his former apprentice no longer moved and was motionless there on the ground he was satisfied, but he himself was still injured badly.  
  
"Supreme Leader... we must get you to safety and have your wound tended to." Hux said, trying to do whatever he could to aid him.  
  
"Yes..." Snoke answered weakly and then he glanced towards the door that Rey was trapped behind. "Once we are clear... bring the temple down on top of them. This is the price of disobedience."  
  
The remaining knights helped Hux get their leader aboard his private shuttle leaving without a second thought about their former Master.  
  
In the other room Rey finally managed to get the wiring to spark and the doors hissed open. It was just then that Luke rounded the corner in a sprint.  
  
"Luke... I... Ben is...." She didn't know how to word it, but she stopped when she realized how terrible Luke looked. His robes were singed and tiny cuts littered one side of his face. Her words only made the distressed look on his face darken when she thought it couldn't be possible.  
  
They didn't need to speak. They rushed into the hanger towards Ben, but he had still not moved from the place that he had been dropped. It was Luke that approached him first and got down on his knees to carefully pull his nephew's head into his lap and cradle him as if he were a child again.  
  
"I'm... sorry... I tried..." His voice came out weak and low. He did not even have the energy to do anything other than mumble out the few words.  
  
"No. No... Ben... you did so well. Your willingness to give up your own life in the service of others is the way of a true Jedi. I'm so proud of you."  
  
Rey kneeled at his side and looked over his face surveying the damage. There was a trickle of blood dripping from his ear and his nose and Rey remembered seeing this when a scavenger tried his luck at climbing for supplies in the bridge of a downed destroyer. He hadn't survived.  
  
"Ben..." Rey's voice broke as she shifted closer and reached out to take his hand. He was so weak that he was not even able to take her hand back. She tried so hard to hold her tears at bay, but they spilled freely and his eyes were lowering and starting to close. "Please... don't leave me... I don't want to lose anyone else... not you too. Not you. I can't... do this on my own."  
  
His lips parted and his jaw worked, trying to form words. It was clear from the sound that he was struggling not to choke on his own blood and when his eyes started to slip close she shook him lightly. "Yes... you can..."  
  
"I love you..."  
  
"I love you... t-to... Rey..." Following those words there was a long silence and a dull glassy look in his eyes before they slowly slipped closed.  
  
"Ben?" Rey shook him again. There was nothing. No response. "Ben!"  
  
That was when she felt it. That ripping feeling. As if her soul had just been torn in two. As if a half had been ripped away from her. No words could ever describe just what agony it was to feel a part of her very soul being ripped away.  
  
"Rey... we have to leave." Luke informed her. "This place is-"  
  
"No! I can't... I can't..." Despite the pain she felt within herself she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Find The Force. She had to find The Force. She reached up and placed both palms over his heart and focused The Force there. She remembered what he had taught her.  
  
"Rey." Luke said again when he looked up to find a ship landing in the hanger. "Rey... now.... we have to go."  
  
"I can't leave him like this." She ignored Luke and  used the electrical currents always present. The Force Lightning that was there and passed a little jolt into his chest. Into his heart. There was a little jump. A small beat. It wasn't what she had hoped for, but it was something. Another little jolt and a spark.  
  
Luke quickly pulled his saber and ignited it and Rey looked up to find that they were surrounded. The bounty hunters had followed them even here. Or... as they had been described as  
  
"Leave us!" Luke warned.  
  
"Back off old man... we only want the girl."  
  
"Me?" Rey couldn't comprehend it. There were waves upon waves of dizziness taking over her.  
  
"She's the last Kryze... and she belongs to Mandelore."  
  
Rey glanced up at the men before her. She didn't completely trust them, but these men were her only chance to save Ben.  
  
"I'll go with you only if my friends come as well."  
  
Two helmets turned towards each other and realizing that they had no time to argue they nodded and reached out for her to help her up to her feet. Luke did not look as if he trusted the men, but this was their only choice. All the ships in the hanger were gone and they would never make it out in time  
  
Two went to retrieve Ben, but then one stopped and looked up at his commander.  
  
"He's dead!" Those words hit Rey like a ton of bricks and she could hardly take in enough air to breathe properly. The world around her was going black. Darkening around the corners and the pain was taking over until she felt her consciousness fading from her.  
  
"Bring him!" The commander snapped "Who is he?"  
  
"My son. Ben Skywalker." Luke's voice came out.  
  
Though she barely heard it and several soldiers had to quickly grab her and hold her up. The last thing she was aware of was being loaded onto the ship and watching them carry a seemingly lifeless body up the ramp. Everything faded out. The pain was too much to bare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of Episode 8 in my terms. Uhm. Unfortunately we have recently learned my sister has cancer and I've needed to take a little time. I ask my fellow Christians to please say a prayer for her. I will finish this soon. There are two more chapters and an epilogue.


	9. Afterlife

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I don't know what happened inside my mind nor do I have any way of putting it into words. It was a moment that defied all words…when I felt something inside me fall asleep… and something else wake up." - Joe Bousquet

Soft, warm sunlight was on his skin. Beneath his fingers he felt the faintest tickles of grass and there in the distance the gentle, cool breeze and the playful chirping of birds. With a low, little groan he opened his eyes and tried to gave up at the face above him. He was in a woman's lap he realized.

It was comfortable and soothing and she was so... so beautiful.

"Mom...?"

"No. Not quite." The woman above him giggled softly and reached forward to stroke a few locks of dark hair back behind his ear.

"Don't coddle him too much, Padme. He'll never want to leave." A man's voice entered the field.

"He needs to be coddled, Ani."

His eyes shifted slightly towards the sound of the voice and he tried to focus in on the other person that had approached. There was a certain darkness to this person and yet... at the same time the light.

"Grandfather..." He could hardly believe it. The man that he had admired for so long was standing right there. Only a short distance away. "You're really... here."

"I am." Anakin slowly approached him.

"Why now? Before... when I called out to you... all I ever heard was silence."

"I tried to speak with you, Ben. You were so lost in the darkness that Darth Plague shrouded you in. I couldn't reach you."

"He pretended to be you... an outcast... like me."

"I know, but you freed yourself. Without my help. You're stronger than I ever was. You prevailed. Succeeded where I could not." Anakin took several steps closer.

"What is this place?"

"Somewhere that you'll return to. Somewhere we all return to, but, Ben... _you're not done yet._ "


	10. The Grand Final

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Let them know that all of Mandelore was here on this day!"

Deep breaths. She took in slow, deep breaths and slowly felt her mind returning to her. It was an odd feeling to suddenly have been so deeply asleep and now so suddenly awaken. It was almost as if she had died for a short time and had been resserected.

"Where am I?" Rey asked the droid at her bedside, but the droid only let out a series of beeps and then turned and quickly left her there. A few moments later the door hissed open and a man in familiar silver and blue armor stepped in.

"Duchess." He acknowledged. "Are you feeling well?"

"Duchess?" She stared into the visor for several long moments and after a brief shift he removed the helmet to reveal his elongated face with a prominent square chin. One side of his lip was turned downward into a permant scowl from scarring. His hair was slightly curly and inclining to golden. He looked exactly like the Mandelorian busts that she sometimes saw traded for goods. Odds and ends like that for some reason... arts... were worth a lot.

"Yes. You are the last Kryze. You are the Duchess of Mandalore."

"Mandalore killed my parents."

"No, Duchess. Death Watch was responsible. Not all of Mandalore. To blame an entire culture for the actions of a few are unjust."

"Who are you? And what do you want from me?"

"Forgive me, Duchess. I am Alor'ad Ventilias Lannunx. "

"Alor'ad?"

"Captain, Duchess. I see your Mando'a will need some retouching."

"You act like I'm just going to accept this title... I haven't even... had time to think about it. About any of this." Rey wasn't comfortable with this. Not with any of it. All of this had all been thrust on her in such a short amount of time. "What if I don't even want to be your Duchess?"

"With all do respect. There is... no one else." Ventilias responded softly.

"Of course. Why should anything ever be that easy for me?" She let out a little sigh. "I want to see my friends."

"The Skywalkers..." Ventilias nodded. "Very well. It will be good to let your people see you are well."

Her people. Those words did not go unnoticed, but Rey was in no mood to keep arguing with the man. She just wanted to make sure that Luke and Ben were alright. She was unsettled, because she had not heard anything from him. She was met only with a constant, heady silence.

Ventilias was about to help her, but she wanted to maintain her independence and forced herself from the bed to quickly move to the door. Perhaps he respected that in her. He stepped aside with a pleased expression and allowed her to move down the hall. She knew where she was going. She could still feel him.

At the door she caught the tail end of a conversation.

"Mir'shupur - brain injury." The Mandelorian medic informed. "The other results came back as well. It is Calcification. You should expect dizziness, blurred vision, muscle spasms, and muscle weakness."

"It was to be expected." Luke acknowleged.

She hesitated for a brief moment, but she decided that it should be fine. After all she was sure that Ventilias wasn't going to want to just stand around in the hall while she tried to gather her nerves. She stepped into the room and the three men looked up at her.

"I'll be tending to some other patients. Call if you need anything." The doctor informed them and left to give them space.

"How are you feeling?" Rey started and that strange expression on Ben's face when she said that wasn't what she expected at all. There was utter, sincere confusion.

"Do I know you?" He shook his head and then glanced at Luke. "Of course I do... uhm... she's... I do know her right...? A little fatherly help would be much appreciated."

"Let me... let me talk to her." Luke stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder to quickly lead Rey out of the room and into the hallway. Luckily Ventilias was speaking with the doctor and he was out of earshot of their conversation.

"Father?" Rey questioned. "He doesn't remember anything? You're lying to him?"

"Listen to me carefully. Nobody must ever learn who he was. These people opened their arms allies. Not enemies." Luke gave a brief look around.

"What if he remembers?"

"He won't."

"But, what if he does?"

"Rey... he is never... going to remember. It's gone. Everything is gone. His mind was so twisted... so damaged. He was never even meant to wake."

"Doesn't he deserve to know the truth? We... would be making him live a lie. Like the one he tried to make me live." She said softly. "What about his mother? What about Leia-"

"She's gone." Luke's voice shuddered faintly.

"What?"

"The ship that she and Lando were on... she's... she's just... gone." Luke forced himself to look away from her merely for the sake of trying to hide the tears that had brimmed in the corner's of his eyes despite himself. "You know he would never be able to live with that knowledge. He needs me. He needs a father. This is my chance to make it right. We can give him a second chance."

"Luke..." Rey felt completely torn. On one hand she believed that he should know the truth, because it had been so unfair to her that she had been kept from it, but Ben's truth was so much worse than hers had ever been.

"Please, Rey... let me make it right."

"Alright... alright... I won't tell him."

"All that's important now... is that we remember that Kylo Ren was a terrible villain who was executed on Yavin by Ben Skywalker." Luke turned his back to her and shakily ran a hand along his beard to try and contain his emotions. He felt as if he had been thrown through a black hole and only a part came out the other side. "What you did back there... The Force Lightning... he taught you didn't he?"

"Yes."

"Listen carefully... you mustn't use it ever again. Lightening causes considerable and unnecessary pain to the enemy. Killing someone with it is slow. The Sith prefer it because they get satisfaction by inflicting a slow painful death."

"I would never use it against someone like that." Rey wasn't sure why Luke suddenly was so against using The Force, but there was something there. Something under the surface that bothered him about it. "You could use it to send electricity to an object that needs electricity to run. You could also use it to overload the circuits of a locked door to get it to open... or... or... jump starting someones heart... you saw what it-"

"I've seen what it's done." Another shuddering breath left and Luke cleared his throat, trying to somehow maintain his composure. "Forgive me, Rey. I must take a moment... this has... been a very long day."

Rey didn't dare to push. If Luke's bond with Leia had been anything like her bond with Ben she had no idea how the man was still standing. He must be going through an absolute nightmare. His family was torn so apart and he was left to pick up the pieces. She determined that she wanted to try and help as much as she could manage. Luke said nothing as he made his way down the hallway on his own and disappeared to be on his own.

She let him have his space and instead decided to check in on Ben. Even if he had no idea who she was. The moment she stepped through the door he stopped thumbing through a random datapad and glanced up at her.

"I apologize if I've offended you. I didn't quite intend to... get my skull bashed in by a Sith Lord." Ben stated and then he seemed to be contemplating something. "Did I really take his entire arm before he hit me back?"

"You did." She confirmed and his face brightened up with satisfaction. "You fought a devision on your own."

"Really?" One corner of his mouth curled up into a big, goofy smile and Rey realized that Luke was right. Ben seemed so much lighter without the darkness of his past weighing him down. It was a second chance for him. Even if he didn't remember her. "I don't feel so bad if I went down fighting."

"You saved my life." Rey informed and he furrowed his brow a little.

"Did I?" His eyes searched her face for several long moments. "You... I can feel you. What is that?"

"Luke-... your father didn't tell you?"

"He hasn't been very forthcoming with information. He told me he wants to take it easy on my fried, spongey brain."

"We have a Force Bond." That wasn't something she would be able to keep from him. They were so tightly interwoven that he was going to figure that out at the very least. "We're sort of stuck together."

"Well... being stuck with a pretty face isn't so bad..."

"Yours or mine?" She joke lightly and he chuckled quietly at her words, but then he seemed to grow even more curious.

"Mmm..." Ben sighed quietly and rubbed a hand along his chin briefly and then up the side of his face and into his hair. "I don't even... I don't know what I look like..."

It was clear that he was trying very hard to remember her. Anything about her. She could feel him racking his brain for the information, but she could see just how 'spongey' it really was. Luke wasn't kidding. From her point of view she could now understand why they said he was never going to remember his past. It was so torn up inside that remembering really was going to be impossible.

"Your face is fine." She tried to let him know that there was nothing for him to worry about appearance wise. Bruised and a little swollen still yes, but other than that he looked as he always did. Maybe his hair was just a little longer and messier, but the medics had kept him very clean.

She looked around to try and find a reflective surface for him. It must be so strange to have no idea what he looked like. The first thing she found was a clean dinner trey and she pushed it forward on it's rolling table and he took the chance to glance at himself. He grimaced of course.

"What's this?" He rubbed the scar she had left behind on his face and then she wasn't sure how to respond. At her silence he glanced towards her and waited, but he did notice how she suddenly clammed up.

If he could have gotten inside her mind and searched the thought out she was sure he would have, but from the look of it he didn't even know how to do that anymore. Did he even remember how to use The Force?

"Can you... do you remember how to use The Force?" Rey knew that she had to figure out how guarded she had to be around him. If he could get inside of her head then he might find out things that he shouldn't know.

"I uhm..." He glanced around the room and thought carefully about what The Force was. He knew that much. He understood it on a deep level, but how to use it... he was drawing up blanks. "No. Not quite. I'm... still figuring things out."

"That makes two of us."

"I guess... we could learn together."

"Duchess." The voice of Ventilias Lannunx interrupted their conversation. "There's been an incident. Your people need you."

* * *

Rey was still unsure how to take the position that she had been placed into, but she did know that she could not leave innocent people to die without her help. There was an attack as Ventilias had informed her, but unfortunately... by the time they arrived there to the village it was far too late.

The entire village was a shocking sight. Burned to the ground. It appeared that there were no survivors. Typical of The First Order.

"They've taken the children." Ventilias snarled in rage. It occurred to her that he hated The First Order just as much as she did. Perhaps these Mandelorian's were not as bad as she had initially thought. "We must find them. No matter the costs."

"We should track them. If we hurry-"

"To find them will take a leader of soldiers. The cowardly General Hux is the man behind the child solders and I have no doubt he has taken them aboard his destroyer. We would be forced to take the fight to them... and you're not ready, yet Duchess... but... I will train you and then we will find the sons and daughters of Mandelore that have been taken. We will take the fight to The First Order."

It was not the response that she was expecting, but perhaps he was right. Mandelore needed a leader and because of her blood she rightfully belonged in the position. Even if she did not want it, but here... she was being presented the option to destroy The First Order without the rebellion. The Rebellion may be a thousand times better than The First Order, but... there were those in politics that were corrupt. They could not be trusted. Especially now that Leia was gone.

"I... I need some time."

"Duchess... time is not a luxury we have. Please, decide quickly."

* * *

"They want me to be their duchess... but I... how can I? I never wanted this. I never wanted any of this." Rey went on rambling, pacing back and forth nervously. The only listener she had to her probably was poor Ben who looked utterly confused and... frustrated with his current situation.

Not so much her, but the fact that he had been confined to a Power Chair and given a bottle of tihaar. The Mandelorian's insisted that it was the best painkiller there was. She wondered how much weight it held.

"What's there to think about? This is your birthright... and I for one think you would be a just leader." Ben offered his opinion. They had been speaking a lot lately and even if he didn't quite remember her or their time together... or their previous status as enemies... they had become much closer. They had begun to confide in each other like never before. "Those children don't have much time if The First Order is as bad as I've heard it is."

A part of her grimaced at his words. He really had no idea, but the Mandelorians certainly talked and she knew that he had heard things. How would he react if he knew what he had done?

"I know. You're right, but what if I'm... what if I'm a bad leader? What if people die because of the orders I give? The choices I make?"

"Rey... I think... that will happen to any leader... no matter their choices. You can't let that hold you back. This is war. People die. Those children don't have to." He sighed quietly and shifted a bit. Even if his condition was getting better each day he was still trapped in a hospital room and she knew he hated it.

"I don't have much choice do I?"

"Do we ever?" His words were strangely dark and she wondered if he felt like being confined here in this hospital room... in a power chair of all things was taking it's toll on him. She wondered if he knew something he wasn't meant to know.

"I think I know what I have to do." Rey admitted, because truthfully this was her birthright as Ben had called it and she had to save those children... she had to save these people... and she had to stop The First Order.

With a certain determination Rey left the room and made to track down Ventilias with her answer. It was not hard to find the man. He was very hard to miss. He stood among a group of important looking officers. They were in the middle of a discussion it seemed. A very heated one.

"Ventilias." She called out and the man turned to her.

"Duchess." He greeted as did the rest of the officers. If there was one thing she could say about Mandelore it was that she had been treated with dignity and very fairly. Unlike on Jakku where she was looked down upon for being a woman.

"I've made my decision." Rey began, giving her best shot at an athoritive tone. "I'm ready to become your leader. To stop The First Order and save my people."

"You heard the Duchess. Prepare the Nite Owls and make sure the Kom'rk-class fighters are in top shape. Tonight we will formally celebrate the home coming of our Duchess." Ventilias gave out the order and the others saluted and hurried to their stations. "I knew you would make the right choice."

"Why do we need to prepare the fighters? Are we going after The First Order right now?"

"No. Of course not. We need a plan. What we are preparing for is a celebration. A show of force. We'll flex our muscles a little and have a feast. It will boost moral and strike fear into the hearts of those who oppose us." Ventilias explained and Rey realized she really had no idea how to rule a people or where she should even start.

"I see." Rey responded and as if sensing her nerves Ventilias spoke up again.

"Don't worry, Duchess. I will guide you until you are ready. I will not throw you into the position, but we do have little time and so you must learn quickly."

"I promise I won't let you down."

"I know, Duchess. I know." Ventilias responded with the utmost confidence in her. "You've the blood of heroes in your veins."

* * *

Tonight was what would be Rey's corination. It was no question whether or not she was nervous, because she most certainly was. They dressed her elegantly in flowing reds. As expected. She was their Duchess after all. It was the first time she had ever been in such fine clothing. She had never even known that such soft clothing existed.

Her hair was done up in a style completely different than what she was used to and in her hair they placed a gold and sky blue brooch. After this final step they placed a fine, red hooded cloak over her shoulders. Never in a thousand years would she have guessed that a desert rat like herself might be in this position.

Ventilias personally arrived in his best armor to escort her to the balcony where they would not only have her coronation, but also the feast. Outside both Luke and Ben awaited her at the table. They were speaking in hushed tones to one another. She had specified that she wanted them involved and there had not been a single word spoken about it even if she did know that the Jedi and the Mandelorians did not exactly have a good relationship.

But then again the Mandelorians called both Ben and Luke dar'jetii. Ventilias explained that it translated to no longer a Jedi. She supposed it was true. Luke had told her a few days ago that it was time for the Jedi to end. It was both heartbreaking and a relief at the same time.

While Luke had chosen to stay in his grey robes it seemed that Ben had been dressed traditionally Mandelorian. As Luke had told her he was regaining his strength and once he was able to stand on his own he was been given his own armor to help aid in their fight. It oddly suited him. His colors were similar to hers. Gold and reds.

It seemed The Force was playing with their bond again. The Force had a very odd sense of humor.

"Look, Duchess... all of Mandelore is here for you." Ventilias waved a hand out over the balcony to reveal all the lights in the night. Each light represented an individual in the crowd. There were so many and they went on and on. "Down there are the Mando Ori'ramikade... and behind them the bes'bavar-the cavalry. The greatest cavalry in the entire galaxy."

A large formation of Kom'rk-class fighters soared overhead and trailed fireworks behind them as they went. They held their formation perfectly and were indeed an impressive sight to behold. Now she understood exactly what Ventilias meant. There were not many that would like to trifle with such a large and capable force.

"Ventilias... do you know that Snoke is Darth Plagueis?" Rey questioned and he glanced over at her, but his face held no concern whatsoever.

"It is not Mandlore's first battle with a Sith and it will not be our last. Do you see those there, Duchess? Those are our Basilisk war droids. Mandelorian iron is not to be trifled with." Ventilias placed a hand at her shoulder and turned her to her place at the head of the table. "Come and eat, Duchess. We shall celebrate tonight. Tomorrow our training begins."

It was only when she sat that she noticed the looks that Ben was giving her then. It was strange to have him stare at her the way that he was. He had never looked at her the way that he was looking at her now. She didn't know what to make of it.

"Duchess," The chef spoke up. "we have prepared a great feast for you. Roast shatual, Gi dumpling soup, Roba pie, plenty of Varos... and a dessert of uj'alayi and a healthy cup of shig."

"Haili cetare!" The groups of officers cheered as they lifted their glasses of shig and a few of those who preferred tihaar.

The scavenger in her wanted to just dive right in, but Rey knew what he position was and she knew she had to try and eat a little more delicately than she normally would have. At least here she did not have to fear not having enough to eat... and she never would again.

Looking up at the happy faces of the men eating and Luke and Ben... for the first time in her life... Rey felt like she was truly a part of a very large, very happy family. She knew in her heart that this time she would protect this happiness.

* * *

The hospital room was empty. It left Rey with a little bit of a shocked feeling. He had always been here when she had come in and now he was missing. He should be resting and he was gone. With a low sigh Rey quickly left the room and searched for Ben. He couldn't possibly have gotten far in the shape he was in could he?

The first thing she did was focus in on his presence in the force. It was odd to have to adjust to how he felt now. For the first time there wasn't a dark shadow lingering over him and he felt lighter. Happier. The Mandelorians accepted Ben in a way he had never been accepted before. Fighting was all Ben knew really and that made him fit in.

She found him easily enough, but she was not pleased that he was in the arena fighting with Ventilias.

"What is he doing?" Rey asked as she came to stand beside Luke who carefully presided over the match.

"Bonding." Luke answered simply.

"He should be recovering." She responded while grimicing as Ventilias' weapon. The darksaber as she had heard it called clashed hard against Ben's small, round hand-held energy shield. It must have put him in a world of hurt because it took him a moment to recover, but he did recover and he lashed out with his own lightsaber. It put Ventilias on the offensive.

Taking that opportunity Ben shield bashed Ventilias and knocked him onto the ground and for a moment she stood shocked, watched the look on Ventilias's face and wondered if he would be angry, but instead he stood and laughed as he looked up at her and Luke in the stands.

"Are you sure he is not a true son of Mandelore?!" Ventilias questioned them loudly. "Where do you come from with such a skill Skywalker?"

"Dar'yaim." Ben responded and Ventilias accepted the answer with a mere nod.

"Cin vhetin. Come drink with us later, vod." Ventilias told him as he deactivated the darksaber and slowly left the arena to retire from the tiring fight.

Ben deactivated his as well and let his shoulders lower with a breath of relief. He hurried out of the areana to meet with Luke and Rey now that he was finished with his training. The moment he saw Luke he approached him and Luke brought his hands up to either side of Ben's face and leaned his forehead against Ben's despite the thin sheen of sweat. To her surprise Ben actually leaned down so that Luke could reach to rest his head against his.

"You've done so well. I'm proud of you." Luke informed him. Now Rey understood what Luke meant by making it up to Ben. He was lavising him with the love and attention he had never had as a child. "I'll let you get back to it. An old man needs his rest."

Though Luke said it they both knew it was hardly true and he was looking for an excuse to leave them alone together. She wasn't quite sure what his angle was, but perhaps it was just the fact that he wanted them to train together and strengthen their bond to fight Snoke more efficiently.

She had voiced her concerns of Snoke realizing that Ben was alive and bringing back any memories, but Luke assured her that it was impossible for Snoke to ever invade Ben's mind again with their force bond in the way.

"Your presence is like a candle in the dark of his mind. The shadows can never reach him again."

She supposed that it made sense, but sometimes he looked at her a certain way and Rey wondered if he knew some things that he wasn't letting on. She never really pressed into his mind anymore. He couldn't do it to her and it wouldn't be fair for her to do it to him. It was the way he was looking at her right now.

"I worried you." He assumed.

"You should be more careful. You only just recovered."

"I can't stay locked up in a hospital with a war on the horizon. I have to strengthen my body to fight again."

"I was on my way to your room to suggest a less strenuous training session. Like say... taking one of the Kom'rk-class fighters out for a spin." Rey responded and his expression lit up hopefully. "On one condition."

"What condition?"

"No titles. No Duchess. Nothing."

"That's fine. I can live without the burden of Skywalker looming over my shoulders." Ben answered simply.

"We better hurry... if someone catches us..."

"Titles..." He answered dully, knowing that they would be stopped immediately because of their importance to the fight and with only a glance the both of them quickly hurried off to the hangers.

A few mechanics were handling maintenance on the ships and the hanger's friendly neighborhood Anooba quickly trotted up to them with a playful huff. It was another friend of Ben's it seemed because the beast bounded up to him with a ball in his mouth and awaited a good throw.

"Just one, Lynch." He took the ball and gave it a good toss and the Anooba bolted after it with a bark. The Mandelorians had packs of Anooba around. They had been training them to be faithful war beasts.

It was fortunate that none of the workers paid them much mind. They hadn't the faintest idea what they were doing in here and they fortunately seemed invested in what they were doing. That was good, because if they had any idea she doubted that they would let her go without an escort. Though they might like Ben she doubted they trusted him with her to such a degree.

The Fang fighters were both closer than smaller their original target. It was just more convenient and so they changed course. As casually as they could manage the both of them picked out their fighter and with one last look at the busy mechanics they quickly rushed into the cockpits of their chosen ship and before anyone could do or say anything they hit the engines and were roaring out of the hanger at breakneck speed.

It was reckless and foolish... and impulsive, but here a great battle was coming and they were both young and they would only live once. It would surely stir up a fuss, but they would worry about that later.

"Where are we going?" Ben asked over the comm-link once he had it adjusted and Rey let out a breath.

"I hadn't thought that far. Anywhere. I just need to get out." She responded and glanced at his ship that was keeping pace with hers. Though she fully intended to get the better of him and pushed the speed on her own fighter.

"You're really a rebel at heart." He responded and tried to catch up with her, because he was not one to be outdone... and if they got caught well he certainly wasn't going to get caught first. "We're similar that way aren't we?"

"Perhaps, but I'm the better pilot."

"We'll see."

Though he managed to get a few inches ahead of her, Rey took the chance and tilted her fighter sideways to get through a small space that they both could not make and keep him behind her. He made a little frustrated sound, but he was enjoying the thrill of the challenge.

A sudden bright light and explosion interrupted what fun they were having and Rey felt her fighter jerk hard and the next thing she knew thick, black smoke was pouring out of the back of her ship.

Quickly glancing back she noticed the dark shape and recalled that impossible to miss high, pitched screech of a First Order fighter. Impossible. How were they here?

"Scouts. He hit you because he thinks you're a squadron leader." Ben said and quickly pulled in behind her to keep the enemy from getting another shot at her. "Are you alright?"

"I... I don't know..." Rey was thrown, confused, but she knew she had to act quickly. Her ship was going to start burning up. He must have sensed her tension because his voice cut in over her thoughts.

"Listen, Rey... your cockpit isn't on fire. You have a little time to spare. You can act methodically. Don't panic." He pulled up beside her and glanced at her fighter to try and get a better look at the damage done. "What I want you to do first is jettison the canopy. Unbuckle your seat-belts and don't forget to detach your radio cable and oxygen supply. If you forget, it might prevent you from leaving the aircraft."

"You want me to bail?" Rey questioned. Not an idea she liked, but it didn't look like she had much choice.

"Mmmhm. Do you have aileron authority?"

"For now." She answered as she did her best to breathe and stay calm while flipping the release for the canopy and unlatching herself as he had instructed. She had never crashed before and she never imagined herself in this situation. Something like the Falcon would have been a flaming ball of this, but this was a fighter. Things were different.

"Great, perform a half barrel roll and just fall out of the cockpit. It will minimizing the risk of hitting the stabilizers."

"I don't think I can right here." Rey had to consider how fast she was still moving and how close to the ground and these jagged rocks that she was. She knew that it was going to be too risky to roll at this point and it was only getting worse.

She noticed the scout coming back for another pass and Ben quickly slowed to get behind her again and keep the enemy pilot at bay all the while trying to get her out of the fighter. A second scout moved in and Rey knew that they had really made a mistake coming out on their own.

"Okay. If you can't do that you're going to have to climb out of the cockpit onto the wing and just jump." He instructed carefully. "Be careful. The air striking your body will try to force you back into the cockpit. If one wing is angled downward, you can attempt to slide down on it just a little bit to avoid the stabilizers... and Rey... wait as long as you can before you open your chute... they might attempt to shoot you out of the sky."

With those final instructions he pulled out and disappeared and Rey glanced up to try and catch sight of him or the scouts, but she did not see them. With no other choice she waited until the clearing that was coming up, out of this valley that had raced through and when she saw her chance she quickly tilted the fighter a little, slipped out onto the wing as carefully as she could and slid down just as he had told her.

The feeling of free falling was both exhilarating and nauseating. A part of her wanted to pull the chute then and there to stop that unpleasant sensation, but she remembered his words and waited, waited until finally she could wait no longer and pulled the cord. It was just as rough a landing as she expected.

Her fighter hit a rock formation in the distance and exploded into a thousand pieces. The scavenger in her cringed at all the waste even if there was nothing she could do about it. The only thing she could do now was just keep moving.

The land around her was unfamiliar to her. Mandelore was not like Jakku. She had long since passed the rocky desert planes of the planet and now Rey found herself moving further into a swampy landscape. The thickening fog grew around her, but she kept moving forward. There were many clans out here and surely she would find one of them if she just kept moving.

She knew knew that she had to warn them that the First Order was here in force again. If they didn't know it already. She hoped that they had not already caused more damage... burned any villages... stolen more children... the thoughts urged Rey to move more quickly through the fog.

In the rush she slammed hard into something and her mind reeled. It grabbed onto her and held firmly and she reacted by slamming her elbow into it enough to give her space to get her lightsaber in her hands and put the business end against the thing that had ensnared her.

"Some thanks..." A voiced huffed out and she slowly sensed through the Force the familiarity of the presence and scowled.

"Are you thick? Don't sneak up on me like that." Rey shoved Ben back hard and he stumbled with a little grunt. Fighting her was a moot point. He simply allowed her to push him around however she liked. "Where's your fighter?"

"Well..." He trailed off and glanced off towards the distance. If she wasn't mistaken she distinctly noticed thick, black smoke beyond the fog. "I was a little outnumbered... there's a squadron patrolling."

"A whole squadron? How are they able to get through without anyone noticing?"

"Maybe a traitor..." Ben responded cryptically and she cast a glance over at him. There was an oddity about his tone and she wasn't completely sure that she could trust everything that he said. He was holding something back from her. She could sense that he was and it put her on edge.

"Right. A traitor." Rey walked around him quickly and continued on the path that she had been taking before.

"What?" He followed after her. "You don't think it's possible?"

"I guess anything is possible." She answered as they moved further along through the never ending fog. Eventually they came up to an intersection of some sort. A bridge. A crossroad. It was a landmark at least. "I don't suppose you have a suspect?"

Whatever answer he might have had for her was cut off by a rumble. Heavy and earth shaking. Acting quickly they both slid down the sloap and moved to take cover underneath the bridge. It was their only other option.

Above them an entire convoy was moving through the region under the cover of the fog and it was obvious that they were not Mandelorian troops patrolling. It was First Order. This was the area that they were using. This was how they had gotten in unnoticed. They were using the weather.

Rey held her breath as the troops and vheicals seemed to endlessly pass above them. A few little chunks of rock and dust fell from the bridge and Rey leaned further into Ben as she waited for the entire bridge to just collasp under all this weight. Somehow that didn't happen. The bridge was holding. If barely.

She lifted her gaze up to him as he watched out carefully for anyone moving around the sides, but they were fortunate. No troops had spread out. They all seemed to prefer to keep their boots dry and take the high ground. Ben pulled her just that much closer as the final troop transport passed overhead and she curled her fingers into his cloak as if that might ground her a little against the sudden wave of light-headedness she felt.

"I think that was the last of them..." He informed, but still lingered a bit longer to be sure that no more would pass just as they were leaving the safety of their cover. He lowered his gaze to her and his mouth curved down into a frown. "You're shaking..."

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine." He scuffed his boot across the dirt beneath the bridge and noted it was dry enough for them to take shelter here temporarily.

"I am fine. We have to go." She argued. They couldn't waste time. She didn't want to just sit here while an entire army marched on the capital.

"We're not going anywhere if you freeze to death... and... I get the feeling that letting a Mandelorian duchess freeze to death is not going to end well for me." He pulled the emergency pack from his downed fighter from over his shoulder and dug around for a heat lamp. No fires. That'd give off too much light. May well give them away.

He was right of course. She was freezing. She'd been trudging through this swamp for hours miles already. She had learned her lesson on pushing herself beyond her limits back on Jakku and she knew for survival's sake she could never do that again. It would be wise to give this one over to him.

"As soon as we've warmed up we go."

"You'll hear no argument from me, duchess." He bit out the last word as he flipped on the heat lamp that would keep them warm and went back to digging through the survival bag to see what else he could find.

The heat that came from it was nearly immediate and she thanked modern technology for such an invention and wished she had one for the cold nights on Jakku.

Though the more she thought about her current situation she realized she was ordering him around and she really shouldn't, but then again even though he commented on it she knew through their bond that he honestly did like being ordered around and told what to do. It made him feel useful and secure. She wondered if some of his training with Snoke had stuck despite his memory loss.

Although... she had her doubts about his memory loss at this point. There were just certain little hints of things. Little whispers across his mind that made her have her doubts and that in itself made her nervous. Her true fear this entire was always that terrifying "what if". What if he only remembered that he was a servant to Snoke and not the part about turning his back on him? What would she do then? She did not want to fight him again for a multitude of reasons.

"Your armor... you picked it?" She tred carefully.

"So?"

"So... you chose specific colors. Ventilias told me each color means something specific... and you never do anything without some meaning behind it." She watched the careful shrug of his shoulders and noting that he didn't react too harshly she continued. "Gold is for vengeance... and red is honoring a parent. Are you honoring... Luke then?"

"I... don't think so."

"Your mother..." She acknowledged and he slowly lifted his eyes towards her. That meant that he knew she had died. She guessed Luke couldn't exactly keep something like that hidden forever. "You want to avenge your mother. Do you... remember her?"

"No, but I keep wondering if I should be glad that I never will or not. I don't know if it makes it easier or harder to not know her face or what she was like." He sighed and lowered the bag to the ground as he sat down across from her to try and get warm.

"I know the feeling." She could identify with that feeling and the fact shouldn't be the one she took comfort in, but if he didn't remember the most important person in his life... well... he shouldn't remember other things.

"I've done something bad haven't I?" His question had her frowning and she knew that her expression had given her away judging by the little flicker of recognition in his eyes. She had to play her cards close to her chest.

"What do you remember?"

"Not much, but enough to know... that I've done something bad... and you don't trust me either. I had to have given you some reason for that." He took this moment to avert his gaze and look out into the nothingness of the fog instead of looking at her face and seeing what he didn't want to. Disgust. Disappointment. Pity. He couldn't bare it.

"But you're not that person anymore... right?"

"No." He replied without the slightest hesitation. He was not the person that he had been before. There were tiny things. Flickers of memories, but none of it mattered now. That was so degraded and choppy that he couldn't get a clear view of it. "Was I a stormtrooper?"

She snorted at his question and shook her head, but he didn't look nearly as amused as she was by that prospect. If only he knew. Though that question did bring her mind to Finn. She wondered how he was. She knew that he had made it out, but she did not know where the rebels had relocated to. She needed to find out so that she could get back into contact with her friend.

She watched his brow furrow in concentration and noticed he really was trying very hard to figure out what it was that he had done wrong. She wondered what he imagined he had done and if he was imagining it worse than it really was. She groaned inwardly. He would let it consume him and obsess over it. Who wouldn't? She had to say something.

"Ben... let it go. Like you said... you're not that person anymore. This is your second chance... and you deserve it."

"Do I?" He was skeptical of her words, but he really had no idea what he had done or if it was worthy of forgiveness. "You know everything about me, but I have no idea what I've done."

"What you said earlier... about not remembering... in this case... it really is better that you don't." She knew that she was being hypocritical because she had wanted her memories, but his memories held so many terrible nightmares... he was better off not remembering any of that even if it meant forgetting their time together. "You weren't... happy."

That was something she was still coming to terms with. That she had known him. That she had loved him. Had a childish crush on him even. It still felt like it was all so far away. As if the academy had never really existed.

"If you say so."

"Does your face ever hurt?" She asked with caution, daring to take it a step further just to see how much he did or... didn't remember in this case.

"Hmm? Oh... uhm..." He reached up and rubbed a hand along the scar slowly an carefully, though his expression didn't change he dropped his hand and draped it over his knee and shrugged. "A little bit."

That was all she needed to hear. If he had known she was responsible she knew for certain that he would be considerate of her feelings and would have lied to her. It really was all gone from his mind. With absolute certainty she knew he would never remeber.

It seemed he didn't like the sudden silence nor could he tolerate sitting around doing nothing. He stood and started to strip his armor off piece by piece and then he dug through the survival pack he'd taken and pulled out a folded blanket. Not much, but it would keep one of them warm.

He placed the blanket over her shoulders and returned to his spot to lie down and try and make himself comfortable for the night. The dirt didn't make a comfortable place to sleep, but it felt familiar. As if he had done this a thousand times. Maybe he had.

"I'm sorry..." She whispered with a puff of breath fogging from the cold of the night air. It wasn't quiet here. Not by a long shot. There were various frogs and night bugs so there wasn't a moment of silence. Still he heard her.

"What?" He shifted and stretched his arms out above his head as he stared up at the bottom of the bridge.

"I'm sorry that I dragged you out here."

"Dragged me? Oh, yes. I kicked and screamed the whole way didn't I?" He quipped dryly and her only response was to throw her blanket at him. He reached up to remove the blanket from his face... only to abruptly sit up in a panic.

Sensing the presence behind them she turned, half expecting to find a group of stormtroopers there to attack them. Instead she recognized the familiar red plume of Ventilias' helmet. She was both grateful and concerned that they might be in trouble.

Ventilias removed his helmet and tucked it under his shoulder. "Duchess. I'm grateful that you're unharmed. The moment we heard your 'scouting' mission went awry we began our search."

"Our-" She took a moment to realize that he was excusing her fun as a scouting mission. "Right. Our scouting mission."

"Did you discover anything useful before you were attacked?"

"We did. Ventilias... the First Order is here. They've been using this area to move under the cover of the fog." Rey stood up and glanced at the small group behind Ventilias. They must have been very concerned. She recognized these as some of the best warriors they had.

"Here? That must mean the children are still on planet... we must use the fog to our advantage and get them back before it's too late. Are you well enough rested, Duchess? If we move now... we have the best chance. Give me the command, highness."

Rey was silent for a long moment as she watched the rest of the warriors kneel before her and await her order. She knew that she couldn't hesitate. That she needed to give the order not to save the children, but at the same time... she was terrified. What if she gave the order and something went wrong? What if it failed? What if people died because of an order that she gave.

'People are going to die, Rey... you have to do this... your soldiers are capable.'

She glanced back at Ben when he gave her the mental nudge. Strange. She hadn't even felt it when he came inside her mind this time. Maybe he was always there, but he was right. She had to give the order.

"Ventilias... please do everything in your power to save those children."

"Yes, Duchess!"

This was the start. The real beginning. It was the first order that she had ever given and now she was absolutely terrified of what might happen. She had officially took up her position as Duchess by giving her first order.

They quickly suited up and then started off on the bridge to track where the First Order had gone and where they may have taken the children. The cover of darkness worked well for them. The Mandelorians knew exactly how to exploit tactical advantage. They had been warriors since the very start. War was in their blood. It was what they lived for.

They only traveled about four kilometers through the fog when they caught sight of the warm glow of lights through the mist. This was it. Their forward operating base. It was heavily guarded and getting past the defenses would certainly prove a difficult task.

"We cannot afford to be seen before we free the children. They may kill them as opposed to losing them." Ventilias stated as he scanned the area for a way in.

It was well guarded and one mistake could cost them everything. The First Order certainly wasn't lacking in security. Rey wasn't certain that she should have made this call without having more back up. Finn would be so helpful at a moment like this. He knew their ins and outs.

Finn. She missed him and she worried about him. She knew that he made it safely away from the planet during the attack with Rose's help. Other than that... she didn't know much. They must have joined up with the remainders of the resistence.

"Ventilias what about the Resistance?"

"The Resistance is in shambles now that their great General is missing and their chancellor dead. They'll be of no help to us. We must win this on our own." Ventilias paused and looked around the group suddenly. "Where is your Jedi?"

Rey looked back to find that Ben was gone and the rest of the Mandelorians were searching around equally confused. She closed her eyes and searched for his presence. Burning, bright like a little flame she tracked him as he ignited his saber and killed the generator. The lights suddenly went dark.

"Now!" Ventilias commanded and his warriors stormed the camp. The stromtroopers didn't see it coming. They were unprepared for an attack and their security was not as tight as it had first seemed... or rather... they had someone that knew their security inside and out. "Hit them hard! Don't give them room to breathe!"

The stormtroopers struggled to get organized or rally under whatever commanding officer that they could find, but every time they got close the Mandelorian warriors pushed them back further and further with brutal strike after strike.

It was chaos and Rey tried to keep track of what was happening, but it was difficult. There was motion everywhere and consistant blaster fire. She was forced to take cover behind a large rock. Rey had never really been in a battle... she felt overwhelmed. The children... she wasn't sure where they were... or even where Ben had disappeared to.

'Ben, where are you?' She questioned, but never got an answer. His end of the bond was dead silent.

An explosion shook the ground and Rey peeked over the large rock she'd taken cover behind to see a Tie fighter shoot past them. It hit one of the buildings and she prayed it wasn't the one the children were being kept in.

The Tie turned in the distance to make another round and Rey knew she had to do something or the entire camp was going to go up in flames. She held her breath and focused on the fighter... it took all her efforts... she strained... felt the force rumble in the air and the Tie fighter shook slightly and then turned and slammed into the side of the cliff.

She paused and looked down at her hands... she had done it. Her moment of triumph didn't last too long. A heavy transport rolled up with a turret up top aimed to destroy them. The mud stopped the transport half way, but the gun had enough range it opened fire on them.

Ventilias and the rest of his troops tossed explosives towards it where it was stuck and unable to move. Needless to say the transport didn't last long nor did it stand a chance in this swamp. It clicked in Ventilias' mind that this was where they could stand against The First Order.

"Orlairv! Send for support!" Ventilias called out. "We can hold them here in the valley!"

* * *

He may not know who he was or where he had come from... but he did know one thing and that was that he couldn't stand by while children were in danger. There was some part of him deeply locked away the cried out in horror at the aspect of children being harmed... and something that identified with that pain.

The first thing he did after cutting the power to the base was go in search of where he somehow knew the children would be kept. He wasn't really sure he knew how, but he knew. He found the right sort of building. Another thing he wasn't sure how he knew, but this was it. It was a small thing he knew compared to some things he might have done in the past, but he hoped that this was a start to make up for them.

Initally as he opened the door he noticed the sudden draw back of the children and the cry of fear that went out among them. That was until they really looked and saw the familiar armor and they quickly stood and embraced him. He was stunned. Unsure of what to do with the sudden grateful affection that had been given to him.

"We have to go... quickly." He quickly ushered them out of the building until he felt a tug at his pant leg and glanced down to find a child pointing into the dark corner. He stared into the darkness and realized one of the children were injured and could not walk. The poor child must have hurt his leg while fighting the stormtroopers off.

There was no time to waste. He hurried over and lifted the boy up into his arms and rushed the rest of the children out the door. He guided them away from the building and away from the fight and it seemed just as he made it the building exploded into a ball of flames.

He had a brief moment to be shocked. The First Order would have the children killed... rather than give them up. That made his stomach twist uncomfortably. Why had he ever been a part of this?

"Come on. This way." He urged the children on because they were aboslutely terrified. Of course they were. How could he blame them? A battle was a scary thing, but he had to keep them moving. This wasn't the place to stop.

In the distance he watched a Tie Fighter hit the side of the cliff. There was only time for the brief beginnins of a smile because he knew who was responsble. He could feel that much. He did however stop when he heard a blaster switch from stun to lethel.

He glanced over his shoulder to find one of the Mandelorian troops there behind him in green and grey. He knew that this man wasn't here to help him. The children were still in danger.

"You're the traitor..." He slowly placed a hand on the back of the boy's head and pushed it against his shoulder so he wouldn't have to witness this. He moved his hand away and held it out towards the traitor.

The man didn't expect the sudden tightening around his throat. He had not let anyone know that he had discovered his abilities again. Perhaps because he had the instincts from the very beginning to never trust anyone. As for the traitor... he cut his air supplies off long enough to be sure that he was dead.

As his body hit the ground once he had released his choke hold on him another Mandelorian came around the corner. He had terrible timing. His gaze was shifting from his dead companion and the Jedi and then he quickly lifted his rifle.

"Ventilias!" He called out for the backup and the others came running and this scene he knew would not look good for him. Once they rounded the corner and saw him the rest of the troops raised their weapons on him.

Rey looked shocked from her position. For a moment he feared that she would accused him, but there was a certain recognition in her eyes and he knew that she didn't blame him because she recalled their conversation about a traitor.

"What's happened here?" Ventilias demanded answers.

"Wait..." One of the young boys stepped forward and pointed at the green and grey armored troop at their feet. "He's the man that gave us to them."

There was a moment of silence and then slowly, but surely they lowered their guns. Nobody questioned the little boy because they all knew deep down that there was no way that the First Order would have known to go through his unprotected area without inside help.

In the distance he heard a few transports arriving. That meant their reinforcements were here and they had a lot of work to do.

"I'll take the children to the transports... the rest of you start getting this place ready to defend." Ventilias ordered them as he slung his blaster over his shoulder. "Come, Duchess... we've things to discuss."

Ventilias took the child Ben was holding and then gathered up the rest of them to follow him to the transport ships where they could be taken to safety. Ben stayed behind to help them prepare fortifications while Rey went along with Ventilias.

"That's only a handful of ships..." Rey mused.

"Yes. The rest must stay and watch over the capital and the people." Ventilias handed the children off to another soldier who quickly helped them all up onto the transport. One child stopped and reached up to grab Rey's cloak and tug at it to get her attention.

"Duchess... when I grow up... can I be a Jedi?" The child's question surprised her, but at the same time there was something about it that made her smile slightly. It reminded her of her own childhood. To revive the academy... what wouldn't she give to bring it back?

"I think... you can be anything you want when you grow up. If you want to be a Jedi... Master Solo and I will teach you."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"Quickly now, boy." Ventilias rushed the boy, ruffling a hand through the boy's hair as he helped him up onto the transport.

The transports dropped off the rest of the soldiers and then quickly left back to the capital where the children would be safely reunited with grieving parents. It felt like they were actually making a difference here. She was really happy to think that they were actually helping people. The only concern she had now was the battle to come.

"Ventilias... I don't want to give an order that would end in massacre."

"Duchess... we are all sons and daughters of Mandelore here." Ventilias slowly held out a hand to gesture to the many warriors that had gathered. "Everyone here knows their duty. They would make this stand even without a Duchess to lead them. They know... that for many of them... this will be their last, but they are all willing to make that sacrifice. They know the gravity of the situation."

Rey knew that this was going to end in a bloodbath no matter what side won. The Mandelorians would never surrender. They would rather die. And Snoke would throw all of his soldiers at them because he could care less for their lives.

"Then I can only order you to save as many lives as you can and fight with wit." It didn't have to be said. She knew that he would, but she hoped that maybe others might overhear and fight to live for their country instead of dying for it.

"I will, Duchess." Ventilias gave a brief paused and stared across to the Jedi or... former Jedi and then back to Rey. "Are you sure Kylo Ren is dead?"

"I..." Rey was startled because she hadn't expected Ventilias to have known or even why he would keep it a secrete from others. "You've known the entire time?"

"Yes. Is he?"

"Kylo Ren is dead." She assured him and Ventilias took her at her word with a nod. The subject of their conversation was obviously glancing there way every now and then and it was almost amusing how fast he'd look away when he thought he was caught. "I just wish I knew why he was always spying on me."

"Duchess." Ventilias pressed a hand over his mouth and coughed to cover up his laugh. "He looks at you that way because he likes you."

Rey only stood there, mouth slightly agape as she processed his words. How? How was that even possible? Surely he had to be wrong in his assumption. Ben did not like her. Not like that at least. But then... if she pressed a little further into the bond... what would he do? And what would she feel?

If she dug far enough into the bond she wondered if she would find out, but she did not want to do it that way. She didn't want to press so far into his private thoughts. Even if he had done it plenty of times to her and she had occasionally given in to her anger to push right back.

She decided it was best to just find out for herself the truth without using the Force or any mind tricks. It wouldn't be fair otherwise. If he wanted to tell her then he could. Right now was not the time either. There was work to be done and she was never one to shirk her duties.

She shed her cloak and got to work right alongside the rest of the warriors. They made great progress, worked for hours to get the valley prepared for the fight that would come. When it grew darker again they retired for their well earned rest.

All the warriors gathered around the fire and after a few rested some took up guard duty along their barricades. They were in good spirits despite knowing the battle that was coming up. Perhaps because they wanted to enjoy their last day alive.

The only one not enjoying the night seemed to be Ben. He was sitting off alone away from the fire. Away from everyone else. Not because he was not welcomed, but rather because he had segregated himself.

Deciding now was the best time to speak with him she stood up, dusted herself off and made her way over to where he was sitting off in the cold dark. It was then that she became aware of his gaze on the sky. No. Not segregating. Star gazing. She took up the spot next to him and out of the corner of her eye noted the strange look he gave her.

Maybe Ventilias was right.

"Thank you for what you did today." She began softly, afraid that if she spoke too loudly maybe it would break the moment.

"You don't need to thank me for that."

"No, but I'm going to."

He didn't further the conversation and instead glanced back up at the sky. It felt like... it had been a long time since he had just... sat down and watched the stars. He was actually free to do whatever he wanted with his life at this point. It was strange. He wasn't sure how to operate.

His thoughts were interrupted when Rey leaned over and pressed a brief kiss to his cheek. It startled him and he quickly turned to the side to face her.

"What was that for?"

"I told you already." She answered and barely fought off the slightest smile at just how flustered he looked because of it. So Ventilias was indeed right.

"Well..." He reached up and rubbed at his cheek as if he was wiping away her touch, but in reality he was desperately hoping that the heat that he knew was reddening wasn't visible in the dark.

"I'm going to need your help."

"With?"

"I want to spare as many lives as I can. I have a plan."

"You have a plan? Alright... I'll hear you out..."

* * *

Every warrior stood at attention in a large line all the way across the valley. The First Order ships had already come through and it was time. They would reach them at any minute. The only problem was that Ventilias did not know where the Duchess or the Jedi had gone off to, but they had disappeared.

"Shields up!" Ventilias shouted and the line activated their energy shields just as an onslaught of blaster fire came their way. The lasers only bounced off and when that failed they tried to use canons, but the shields were strong enough even to reflect that even if it did shove the line back a few paces from the sheer force.

They would not yeild. Would not let them pass. The capital was at stake. The First Order continued to fire at them in attempts to weaken them to no avail.

"Hold! Hold and let them know that all of Mandelore was here on this day!"

* * *

"Do you see it?" Rey asked as she carefully climbed her way up to the top of the cliff-face and then tossed down a rope.

"I see it..." Ben grunted out as he started to climb up himself.

"Is Snoke there? Is he on it?"

"Yeah..." He responded as he had no doubt that sickening presence was aboard the Grand Star destroyer. He made his way to the top and glanced up at the large destroyer hovering there and preparing to fire down on the men in the valley.

"Help me bring it down." Rey stated and Ben quickly did a double take between her and the destroyer.

"What?!"

"Help me bring it down."

"We can't. Rey it's too-"

"Too big? Come on, Ben. You promised me you'd hear my plan out."

"I'll try, Rey."

"Master Luke always said... do or do not... there is no try."

Ben let out a huff of frustration as he situated himself and lifted a hand towards the Destroyer and Rey focused, took a breath and did the same. They both strained, struggled to move the ship, but it seemed not to budge. Not even an inch.

"Comeon..." He muttered and tried again after a moment of catching his breath. The ship shifted just an inch or two and although Rey had been the one to suggest it she looked just as shocked as he was.

With their faith restored they both took a moment and gave it another shot. The Destroyer did in fact move. Enough for it to suddenly hit the reverse thrusters and try to back out of whatever was pulling it.

That was too much. It was painful even to struggle against such a force, but they couldn't give up now. The Destroyer pulled back further and one of the turrets fired in their direction, but missed to their good fortune. That meant Snoke was onto their plan.

"They're going to get away..." Rey focused everything in her on that Destroyer, but it was slipping from their grasp.

"He won't get away this time." A voice stated behind them and both glanced back to see Luke as he came to stand between them. "Let's end this."

With the three of them combining their great efforts the Destroyer could not withstand the Force that drew it forward and the engines began to fail. There was a great cry in the dark side of the Force. Snoke struggled against them. Tried to stop this, but the three of them pulled hard and finally the Destroyer came crashing down into the ground below... smashing the stormtroopers underneath and greatly reducing their numbers.

The First Order was routed. They were scrambling to retreat, but the wreckage of the burning and destroyed Grand Star Destroyer blocked their path and in their panic the Mandelorians quickly charged forward to take advantage of their panic.

All three of them were absolutely exhausted from the effort and collapsed onto the ground, panting.

"We did it..." Rey had suggested it as a last ditch effort and she did have faith, but also worried it would fail... and now it had worked. The plan had worked exactly as she hoped.

"We actually did..." Ben reached up and wiped some of the sweat from his brow.

"Oh... I'm getting too old for this." Luke stated.

A ship suddenly appeared next to them and the doors slid open to reveal a Mandelorian waving for them to jump aboard. They almost had to be carried, but once they were aboard they could finally relax.

They went home victorious to a celebration of the ages. One of which reminded Luke of a similar celebration so many years ago. This time he was certain... that there would finally be balance in the Force. Once and for all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was a long ride. Originally I had wanted a duel with Snoke, but in the end I decided he should go down in flames with his Empire. Literally. I had wanted to flesh it out a bit more, but things just got so hectic in my life I was unable to do so. There will be one more very short story on the after math of things.
> 
> I also want to say thanks for the prayers. My sister had a surgery and they successfully removed all the cancer. We have a some very powerful moments that brought me great comfort that I knew that God was there with me in my hour of need. On the way to the hospital we saw the most beautiful rainbow and then while we were on the 17th floor we saw a butterfly go past the window minutes before we got the news everything would be alright and it wasn't as bad as they initially thought.


	11. Epilogue

"And then... they built a new academy for all the force sensitive little children to train to become Jedi and restored the New Jedi order... and all lived... happily... ever... after." The deep soothing voice told the tale to the tiny infant and the child simply coo'd and stared up at the storyteller, head titling slightly as if trying very hard to understand what was being said.

"You tell him that story every night. I don't think he can quite grasp it yet."

Ben glanced up to the doorway where Rey leaned and shifted the infant in his arms an shrugged slightly.

"Well... our son needs a bedtime story... doesn't he?"

"Maybe something a little less violent?" She tried to suggest and he huffed and grumbled under his breath.

"He's going to be a big, strong Jedi when he grows up. He can handle it."

"I suppose..." Rey was skeptical. She wanted to protect their child in the ways that they had never been protected as children. She didn't want him exposed to too much violence. Not yet at least. She knew eventually the life of a Jedi would call him to duty, but for now... he was just their baby.

"Ben!" A voice called out from across the palace.

"What mom?" He waited a bit and then he heard no response and an arggorvated growl left him. "Of course. How typical of her."

"You're not going to tell him the story of how Grandma Leia and Grandpa Lando escapaed the clutches of The First Order?" Rey asked him with an amused smile as she reached forward to take their son from his arms so he could go.

"Rey... that's a very explicit story that even I wish I had never heard. He does not... need to know what they did while they were stranded on that tropical planet." He responded as he leaned over to give her a few brief kisses in parting before walking towards the door.

"Well I don't intend for you to tell him those details!" Rey responded with an amused smile as she knew just how adult oriented that part of the story was. "But it would be important for him to know that Finn is your half brother and his uncle. Family is-"

"Family is the most important thing. I know, Rey." Ben finally disappeared out the door, but he stopped in front of the balcony when he saw a familiar blue figure standing there and looking out over the Naboo lake. "Grandfather..."

"Good evening, Ben." Anakin greeted.

"Hello, Ben." Padme gave her beautiful and radiant smile towards him. It was comforting that they were here watching over them even when they didn't always appear physically. He smiled to himself as he continued on to check in on his mother.

Rey meanwhile put their son to sleep in his crib, made sure he had all he need and was securely tucked away before she made her way out of the room and out onto the balcony where she could view all the green and the water around.

It wasn't long before Ben returned from whatever task he had been set to and appeared by her side.

"What did she need?" Rey asked and he sighed and leaned against the railing.

"Glass of blue milk before bed. The usual." He stretched his neck, tilting his head from one side to the other. "Sometimes I feel like I'm raising two children."

"Maybe you will be."

"Are you suggesting or hinting?"

"Just a suggestion."

"You want to try right now?" That made him perk up. Of course it did. Forgetting about the ache in his muscles he quickly leaned down to pick her up in a bridal carry.

"Ben!" She jabbed him in the ribs as if she were displeased with his suggestion, but perhaps the smile and the humor in her tone gave her away.

He carried her across the palace and to their room in a strangely familiar, yet very different way and the stepped into the room before promptly kicked the door shut with his foot. This was happily ever after if such things really did exist in this world.

* * *

~The End~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My shocking reveal is in the Epilogue. Not only has Leia survived like the invincible master warrior she is, but Finn is Ben's half brother. Han did tell Lando to take care of Leia for him after all. A personal little headcanon that I wish could be a thing.
> 
> But this really is not my best work and personally I think this was terrible. My next works will be much better. I have two oneshots and a small series planned.


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